No! Serious injury or death can result when untrained homeowners attempt to trim trees around power lines. Only EPUD is allowed to trim trees interfering with the power lines.
Tree Trimming
Yes, if you feel your trees are too close to power lines, contact EPUD and we will inspect the site to determine if the trees should be trimmed immediately or when periodic maintenance is scheduled for your area.
The best way to avoid conflicts is to never plant trees underneath power lines. If you choose to plant trees near power lines, select trees with slow growth rates that have a short mature height and spread that will not interfere with nearby power lines.
EPUD will remove trees that are interfering with overhead conductors or ground transformers. Since there are many factors that will determine whether or not a tree qualifies for removal, a site-specific determination will be made by an EPUD representative.
Emerald PUD does not charge ratepayers for this service. We provide the tree trimming service to ensure that power is delivered safely, more reliably, and at less cost to our ratepayers.
EPUD crews take care of trimming trees in our District. EPUD crews will trim trees according to American National Standards Institute A300 (ANSI) Pruning Standards. This trimming technique uses natural lateral or directional pruning methods which direct growth of the tree away from overhead conductors. This allows the tree to retain much of its natural form while requiring less trimming in the future.
Many factors help determine the distance from the lines your trees will be trimmed. They include:
- Growth rate of tree species
- Voltage level of power line
- Current distance of line to tree
(The minimum distance for most distribution voltage within the PUD system is 10 feet tree-to-conductor clearance.)
Your permission is not required, because state law mandates that we maintain clearance and keep the power lines safe and hazard-free.
The utility is legally required to maintain its facilities. Utility franchises, easements, and right-of-ways are often conveyed in the deed to a property. In addition, as a condition of electric service to your home, you must allow the PUD access for maintenance.
A notification will be mailed to let you know tree trimming work is scheduled to be done in your area.
Many trees have grown up into or were planted too close to power lines. Outages and safety hazards can occur when trees are too near overhead conductors. Service interruptions caused by trees are serious and may affect many customers and cause damage to the electrical infrastructure.