Updated: May 9, 2025

Have you seen crews working on trees and shrubs on our behalf in your neighbourhood? We get asked about this a lot. Why do these trees need to be altered so much, or even cut down?

First, it’s about safety. That’s our number one priority.

To be specific, we’re working to prevent:

1. Electrocution risk: Trees touching power lines can carry electricity, making them dangerous to touch.
2. Fire risk: Branches growing into or falling onto power lines can create sparks which can cause fires.
3. Damaged gas lines: Tree roots can damage gas equipment such as gas lines, and trees can also cause line damage if they’re uprooted.
4. Blocked safety inspections and repairs: Trees and bushes growing over or near gas lines can prevent our crews from seeing potential issues during routine maintenance inspections. They can also prevent our crews from repairing damaged lines quickly.

Second, it’s about keeping your electricity and gas flowing.

Every year, trees that touch or fall on power lines cause an average of more than 100,000 hours of electricity outage time in our service area, and they can cause gas service interruptions as well. This affects our ability to keep electricity and gas safely flowing to your home, community and essential services.

Our approach to trimming trees

We hire skilled, experienced contractor crews to trim and sometimes cut down trees as part of our power line and gas line maintenance. You may see crews cutting branches that don’t seem too close to a power line or gas line. We hope this helps explain our proactive approach to safety:

• Gas and electricity equipment and technicians need a safe space 
• Keeping enough space between trees and utility lines is about keeping you and your community safe. It’s also about giving our technicians enough space to work safely when they need to inspect and service the equipment. That’s why:
  • Trees and shrubs should not be planted within five metres of a power line. That’s about the length of your average minivan.
  • Trees that grow to a height of 10 meters tall and beyond shouldn’t be planted within 10 metres of a power line. In other words, if a tree grows tall enough to fall onto a nearby power line, then it’s too tall or too close.
  • Gas line rights of way must be kept clear of trees and brush, and vegetation must be within height guidelines when planted near a right of way.
• We need to trim enough so we don’t have to return soon 
• To avoid trimming the same tree every year, our crews do the work so it won’t need to be done again for about five years. This helps keep our costs lower, which helps to keep gas and electricity rates as low as possible.
• Sometimes trees need to be cut down 
• Often, we can trim problematic branches (and sometimes tree tops) to keep our systems safe. But if a tree poses a risk to the power system, we may need to cut it down. Often, the tree is already dead or dying, and/or at risk of falling onto a power line or other electrical or gas equipment.
• We encourage property owners to plant trees a safe distance away from power lines. We also recommend hiring a certified utility arborist to manage your trees so we can hopefully avoid the need to cut them down.
• When possible, we notify homeowners prior to cutting down trees
• If a tree on private property needs to be cut down, a contractor working on our behalf will attempt to notify the property owner and may leave a door tag or letter with information on the tree(s) in question.

Don’t want our crews to trim your trees?

We understand, you want to decide how and when to trim your trees. If you want to avoid having our crews do this work, here’s what you can do:

1. Hire a professional to trim your trees safely
2. Property owners are responsible for keeping trees on their property maintained, including trees near power lines. We’re happy when you keep your trees trimmed and those lines clear. However, you should hire a utility-certified arborist to do this work. Untrained people have been seriously injured—and even killed—while trying to save money by trimming their own trees near power lines.
3. Note: We can temporarily disconnect your power when you’re having trees or shrubs pruned or removed near power lines or padmounted transformers.  Call us at 1-866-436-7847 to schedule a temporary disconnection. In most cases, there’s no charge for this service.

2. Plant safely to avoid future issues with electricity or gas equipment
3. Always click or call before you dig. BC 1 Call will get any utility companies with buried lines on your property to provide you with the location of their lines. Requests can be made online or by calling 1-800-474-6886.
4. You also need to plant the right tree in the right place. Check out our safe planting guide for more details.