Who trims trees near power lines in Pennsylvania, the utility or the homeowner?
Updated · KeystoneProGuide editorial team
Who is responsible for a tree near a power line?
It depends on which line. The lines between poles along the street belong to the electric utility, and it keeps trees clear of them. The wire that runs from the pole to your house, called the service wire or service line, is generally left to the property owner, although the utility will switch it off so the tree can be dealt with safely. Phone and cable lines are the responsibility of their own companies.
Do the utilities have to trim trees?
Yes, around their own lines. A Public Utility Commission regulation requires every electric distribution company's maintenance plan to include a program for keeping vegetation clear of its overhead distribution lines, and sets a statewide minimum inspection and treatment cycle of 4 to 8 years.
PECO says its routine tree work runs on cycles four years long, with some mid-cycle work where trees grow fast. PPL says it maintains vegetation near its pole-to-pole lines year-round on a cyclical basis, using foresters certified by the International Society of Arboriculture and contract crews. PECO says trees and other vegetation are key contributors to approximately 20 to 30 percent of all its electric service interruptions.
How do utilities decide how much to cut?
By the line, not by looks. PECO says it follows the national pruning standard, ANSI A300, and that the amount removed depends on how fast the species grows, how far the nearest branch sways in the wind, and the voltage on the line. Both PECO and PPL say they use directional pruning, which aims to make the tree grow away from the wires. PECO says it does not top or round over live, healthy trees. The result can still look severe: Penn State Extension says trees pruned under utility lines may end up shaped like a chair or a stair step, or with one side gone. If what you want is a shorter tree, read why topping is a poor answer first.
PECO also says that, as an alternative to repeated pruning, a property owner may choose to remove trees, and that small "volunteer" trees or trees planted too close to the lines are good candidates. It reviews such requests case by case.
Who trims around the wire to your house?
Usually you, or a contractor you hire. PPL says plainly: "PPL Electric does not trim trees near this wire. It is the property owner's responsibility" to maintain the area between the pole and the house. PECO says it does not perform non-emergency tree trimming for the service wire running to the meter.
Both will make the wire safe for you. PPL asks you to call 1-800-342-5775 before pruning or removing trees around the service wire, and says it will de-energize it. PECO says that if you hire a qualified contractor, or plan to trim yourself, it will drop or de-energize the wire and reconnect it when the work is done, at no charge, and that the house will be without power until then. Arrange this before the crew is booked, not on the morning.
What about phone and cable lines?
PECO says it does not maintain vegetation for telephone and cable television lines, and PPL says the same about communication lines. Contact the cable or phone company.
Who is allowed to work near a live line?
Not you, and not every tree crew. PECO says not to climb or trim trees near power lines and to keep children away from them, warning that even momentary contact with a line, or with a branch that is touching one, can severely injure or kill. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration says a worker can be electrocuted through tools, equipment or a limb that touches an energized line.
Penn State Extension says that under OSHA rules and national standards only specially trained line clearance tree trimmers may prune trees close to lines carrying more than 750 volts. It adds that if a person, tool, piece of equipment or any part of the tree will come within 10 feet of such a line, the utility should be told several days in advance, or a qualified line clearance trimmer used. The Public Utility Commission gives the same 10-foot distance as general advice, and says its Safety Division counted 14 incidents of accidental contact with electric lines in 2023, which caused five deaths. For people working at home, it says ladders and poles are the usual risk. More on what a homeowner can safely take on is in doing it yourself or hiring a professional.
Some townships build this into their own codes. Lower Merion's shade tree chapter says that when a wire must be removed to take down or prune a township tree, the Township Arborist arranges with PECO to cut off the electricity first.
What if a storm puts a branch on a line?
Leave it alone and call the utility. PECO says not to touch a broken limb lying on a line or likely to fall on one, to report it at 1-800-841-4141, and to warn neighbors to stay clear. It asks callers to say whether the line runs between two poles or between a pole and a building.
After the line is safe, the work divides. PECO says its crews cut and remove trees and branches from its equipment to restore service, but that disposing of branches, logs and other storm debris is the customer's responsibility, and that it cannot help with disposal. PPL says that during storm restoration all wood and debris is left on site. The rest of the clean-up is covered in what to do after a storm damages a tree.
What about the big transmission lines?
Those corridors are managed differently. PECO says it does not maintain trees in transmission rights-of-way, that incompatible or tall-growing trees are removed, and that owners must contact it before planting anything other than grass in one. For planting near ordinary lines, PPL says tall-growing trees should go at least 50 feet from power lines.
Sources
- 52 Pa. Code 57.198. Inspection and maintenance standards, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania Code)
- Power Up Your Safety: PUC Essential Electric Tips for Pennsylvania's Warmer Months, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission
- Tree Trimming Assistance, PECO
- Trees & Power Lines FAQs, PECO
- Routine Maintenance Improves Reliability, PECO
- Our Crews Respond Quickly to Storm Damage, PECO
- Line Clearing, PPL Electric Utilities
- Pruning Landscape Trees, Penn State Extension
- Inspection Guidance for Tree Care and Tree Removal Operations, Occupational Safety and Health Administration
- Chapter 128: Shade Trees, Township of Lower Merion