When trees are close to overhead power lines, public safety and the uninterrupted supply of electricity can be compromised.
While respecting the contribution that trees make to our quality of life, Hydro Ottawa trims more than 60,000 trees per year as part of a regular maintenance program. Tree contact with overhead power lines can cause fires, equipment damage or cause power outages.
Keeping a close eye on tree and vegetation growth is everyone’s responsibility.
Our forestry inspectors monitor and gather data about trees in proximity to overhead power lines on a regular basis. They will trim trees that are directly in contact with a power line, or within three (3) meters of a power line.
If a tree on your property is within three meters of an overhead power line (pole to pole), do not attempt to prune it yourself. Our qualified staff and contractors will trim its branches for you.
However, if the tree is near a service wire that feeds electricity directly to your home (pole to home), it is your responsibility to have it trimmed. In such cases, you may submit a request for the isolation of your service by filling out our service request form online. We will arrange a temporary planned outage on your property to create a safe work environment to allow you or a licensed contractor to trim or remove the trees.
To notify us of a forestry concern such as trees close to our power lines (pole to pole) that need to be trimmed or other forestry issues that do not require an isolation of service (temporary power disconnection), please contact us.
This service is free of charge.
