Tonya Berry on vegetation management
From Consumers Energy's Tonya Berry on Plans for Stronger and Smarter Energy Grid · · JTV Jackson
“Consumers Energy spends $100 million per year trimming trees.”
On , Tonya Berry, Executive VP & COO at CMS Energy, spoke about vegetation management during Consumers Energy's Tonya Berry on Plans for Stronger and Smarter Energy Grid on JTV Jackson.
About Tonya Berry
Tonya Berry, senior vice president of transformation and engineering at Consumers Energy, discussed the company’s reliability road map in a February 2024 interview. She said the plan includes increased undergrounding of power lines, tree trimming, and a commitment to restore power to all customers within 24 hours within five years. Berry noted that Consumers Energy spends $100 million per year trimming trees, which she described as the leading cause of outages. She also mentioned that the company provides meals and refreshments to customers during extended outages as part of its community service efforts. In a February 2022 podcast, Berry, then vice president of gas operations, outlined Consumers Energy’s goal to achieve net zero methane emissions by 2030, a decade ahead of the company’s broader carbon neutrality target of 2040. She stated that the company is “hardening, not expanding the system” and that natural gas will continue to play a role in the future. Berry, who holds a degree in industrial engineering from the University of Michigan, said she joined Consumers Energy after working in the automotive industry.