Tree Pruning and Power Outages

Trees and powerlines

Trees or other vegetation sometimes grow too close to power lines or equipment, creating a challenge in providing safe and reliable service.

Our tree trimming initiative is intended to help protect the public, protect property and maintain electric reliability around our overhead distribution infrastructure. Throughout the summer, our team trims trees that are located near power lines and prunes them on a regular basis.

Safety

Our electrical equipment transports high voltages of electricity. Contact with trees or shrubs can result in fires.

Reliability

Many service outages and interruptions are caused by tree limbs falling into power lines, causing damage to wires, short circuits and other problems. This danger can be avoided by not planting tall trees under or near electric wires, and by routine tree trimming.

How you can help

You can help by ensuring trees of the right type and size are planted around your home. Contact our representatives for guidelines on the types of trees to plant around your home to keep them safe and healthy around power lines.

Trees and powerlines

Trees or other vegetation sometimes grow too close to power lines or equipment, creating a challenge in providing safe and reliable service.

Safety

Our electrical equipment transports high voltages of electricity. Contact with trees or shrubs can result in fires.

Reliability

Many power outages and interruptions are caused by tree limbs that fall into power lines.

Know the lines

Many neighborhoods have different overhead utility lines and it's important to be able to identify them so you know who to call if there's a problem, or if vegetation isin encroaching on a line.

We work with a certified vegetation management contractor to trim trees near primary and secondary power lines. Only during emergency situations will we trim trees on your property that interfere with the service or communication lines, in which case the homeowner is responsible for the clean-up and will not have input on aesthetics or the visual impact. 

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EPCOR works with a certified vegetation management contractor to trim trees near primary and secondary power lines. Only during emergency situations will EPCOR trim trees on your property that interfere with the service or communication lines, in which case the home owner is responsible for the clean-up and will not have input on aesthetics or the visual impact. 

Easements on private property

Right-of-way easements allow us the authority to prune trees, without property owners' permission, in order to provide a safe and reliable electric system.

However, we respect your property and will always try to notify you of the need for the tree work before pruning is done. In unusual or emergency situations, it may be necessary to prune trees without first notifying you in order to restore service or eliminate safety hazards.

In an emergency

During a storm, tree branches can come into contact with powerlines and cause power outages. If a tree has fallen onto a powerline, we work to restore power to your home as quickly and safely as possible. This can mean trimming trees on your property to ensure power can be restored.  

It's important to report any trees in your neighborhood that pose a threat to powerlines, before they lead to a power outage, using our online form shown below.

​Where practical, we construct new utility lines to avoid potential conflicts with trees, either by installing lines underground or routing lines to avoid existing trees.

Learn more about the clearance requirements for power equipment on the property owner responsibility section of our website.