We strive to provide safe, reliable electric service to residents and businesses throughout our 662 square-mile service area. We’re committed to protecting the safety of the public, our customers and employees. When trees or vegetation come in contact with power lines, they can cause power outages or fires.
Any attempt to trim a tree around power lines without TID disconnecting the power may result in serious injury or even death. Please call if you have trees in or around your electrical service wires, or if you are unsure. In most cases, we can schedule to have electrical service wires safely removed temporarily at no cost
We periodically hire professional, qualified tree trimmers to trim or remove trees that are growing too close to power lines. When we trim trees or remove vegetation, we do our best to preserve trees on your property. However, this isn’t always possible and occasionally we must remove dangerous trees that pose a threat to the power system or could cause one of our employees or a member of the public to be injured when the tree contacts live power lines.
Trimming trees or “Vegetation Management” for the purpose of maintaining the electrical grid is required by law and, if we were not to comply with the regulations, we could be putting the reliability of the electric system at risk, endangering lives and property and risking hefty fines.
We’re responsible for trimming trees around our high voltage lines throughout the District. However, we’re not responsible for trimming trees and vegetation from low voltage overhead service lines that connect to our customer’s homes and businesses. Trimming of trees and vegetation from these service wires is the responsibility of our customers.
Failure to allow a utility company to comply with the law can result in liability to the homeowner for damages or injuries resulting from a vegetation hazard. Many insurance companies will not cover these types of damages if the policy owner has refused to allow the hazard to be eliminated.
In order to maintain the integrity and natural shape of the tree, select and plant the appropriate size tree for the space. Also, be sure to plant at least 10 feet from the nearest pole and that the maximum full grown tree height is at least 10 feet below the power line. Local nurseries, home improvement stores and the Arbor Day Foundation can help you select the proper tree. If your trees are growing into or are too close to power lines, we may be forced to trim the tree or in some cases remove it. These are some of the trimming methods utilized to save trees that have been planted too close to power lines.
If you have questions regarding tree trimming, please call (209) 883-8335.
