Trees and Power Lines

Trees provide many benefits -- environmental, economic and social. However, poorly placed trees can create problems. Our goal is to help you understand why choosing a suitable location for your tree provides a better future for your tree and all of us.

• Trees growing near power lines can cause downed lines and power outages in storms.
• Because tree branches can carry electricity, trees interfering with power lines may cause short circuits, activate protective equipment, and interrupt electric service.
• Trees can provide access to power lines that can lead to severe injury and death from electrical contact.
• Trees can also extend the length of an outage to underground utility lines if they interfere with access to equipment.
• Overgrown trees can scrape the sides of houses or cars, drop fruit and leaves into neighbors’ yards, block signage, hang low over sidewalks or even cause them to heave or break.
• If you suspect a tree is contributing to a power outage in your area, please report the situation to us by calling 1-800-895-4999.

Utility line clearance crews trim trees away from power lines to help prevent these situations from occurring, but severely pruned trees are, at best, unsightly. At worst, they become unhealthy trees with a high risk of failure that need to be removed. All of these potential problems can easily be avoided by planting the right tree in the right place.

Use the information in this section as your guide to tree selection and placement.