Right Tree, Right Place
Are you considering planting trees or shrubs on your property? If so, it is wise to plan ahead and pick the right tree for the right place. Trees need space to grow both above and below ground. Planting the right tree in the right place helps promote fire safety, reduces power outages and ensures beauty for years to come.
When evaluating plants and trees for your yard, do not plant or landscape near power transformers, or under power lines. Over time, trees can grow into the lines causing the potential for dangerous situations or extended outages. Well planned landscaping will not only add beauty to your yard, it will also ensure that the plants and trees are compatible with overhead utility lines.
Additionally, carefully positioned trees can help you save on household energy use for heating and cooling. A large deciduous (leaf-shedding) tree, planted in the right place, can provide shade in the summer, reduced cooling costs, and will allow sunshine through in the winter reducing heating and lighting costs.
Check out this helpful tree positioning guide:
Trees and Safety
- Trees that grow near power lines can be dangerous and cause many of the power outages in Pend Oreille County.
- If you see a potentially hazardous tree or situation that could affect our utility equipment or power lines, or if a tree branch breaks off and lands on an electric line, causing a dangerous situation, please call us at 509-447-3137 immediately. Do not touch the branch, tree, or wire.
- Don’t cut down trees or prune branches near power lines. Call us to report the situation and we will send our tree experts to evaluate.
- Look up! Never let your ladder touch a power line. Always assume power lines are energized and dangerous.
- Make sure children do not climb trees anywhere near power lines.
Plan ahead for tree removal near utility lines
Are you planning on pruning or taking out trees on your property that are near the overhead powerlines? Before you begin, please consider this: most tree work related deaths and injuries are due to electric shock - not from touching the wire itself, but instead from a secondary source, such as when a tree branch or pruning tool touches a wire. Because of the dangers associated with power and utility lines, extreme care, caution, and planning must be taken when working around them. We ask that you plan ahead as it takes a bit of time and forethought to safely take care of trees near the lines. We ask that you please consider the following:
1. Give us a call before you begin any work and ask to have our PUD tree crews look at the trees as we may remove them for you. If you have a tree that is within our right of way, we will either prune it or remove it. If you suspect or see an at risk tree (a tree that is visibly dead, diseased, dying or unstable) near the power lines, please contact us and we will remove it.
2. If we won’t remove the trees, we’ll help make the situation safe for you or your tree contractor to remove them. Call us and we will schedule a time to come out for FREE and temporarily disconnect the power until the work is completed.
Removing trees that pose an imminent safety or reliability threat to you, your neighbors and the community is important to us. If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at 509-447-3137.