# Bringing utility company in to drop electrical lines for tree removal?



## orionrogue (Apr 6, 2011)

Has anyone brought the electrical utility company in to drop their power lines before?  Was the timeframe and/or cost painful?

I have 7 oak trees that aren't massive, but all of them overhang my driveway, which is where my utility lines also hang.  I'm tired of crap falling from them onto our cars, and one good winter is bound to take a branch down that hits those lines.  And yes, maybe I also see 2012-3's heat in them, too...

I could bring in a tree service, but that's gonna be prohibitively expensive.  Renting a cherry picker and cutting them down piece by piece won't help because they're not near the lines, they're OVER them.  And they're leaning in such a fashion that there will be no diverting them from their intended path to the ground.  So that leaves turning the power off.

If anyone has other ideas that I could use to get out of this conundrum, it would be most appreciated.  Keep warm, everyone!


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## smokinj (Apr 6, 2011)

Yes they will. Last one I did took 3 weeks. It was only one tree so there power was back up that night. 7 could be tricky and depends on whos felling and bucking. Thats going to be a Monster Mess!


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## BrotherBart (Apr 6, 2011)

Every three or four years the power company sends a crew and bucket truck out to trim my 900 foot driveway where the lines run up to the house. They cut any limbs that are over the lines and any tree that is withing 15 feet of the lines they whack it to where it isn't as high as the lines. Which makes it an easy chop and drop for me at that point. Though now there aren't any of those left. They clean up and chip all of the branches and limbs. They were out in the fall of this year. They like me because I don't give'em grief about leaving this or that tree in their right of way which extends 15 feet on each side of the lines.


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## f3cbboy (Apr 6, 2011)

smokinjay said:
			
		

> Yes they will. Last one I did took 3 weeks. It was only one tree so there power was back up that night. 7 could be tricky and depends on whos felling and bucking. Thats going to be a Monster Mess!



they will definatley do it.   just call them and let them know what ur plans are for knocking down the trees.  It doesn't have to be all cleaned up for the to hang ur service either.  al long as the guy can get next to the house with a fiberglass ladder,  they will re  hang it.  Sometimes just lettiing them know how long the service is and what ur plans r,  and they will send out a trimming crew to trim for u like in BB case with a 700' service. whatever is cheaper for them, they'll do.


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## burnham (Apr 6, 2011)

I work for a municapality, so it may be a little different if you have National Grid or another company, but we always go out and do that sort of thing for free.  I don't think we ever need more than ten days notice.  Getting the phone and cable tv lines will be a different matter, if you have those.


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## jdemaris (Apr 6, 2011)

OrionRogue said:
			
		

> Has anyone brought the electrical utility company in to drop their power lines before?  Was the timeframe and/or cost painful?



Good luck on that.  It is a crap-shoot now adays.   All depends on your power company and their budget.

Over 30 years ago, I was a treeman working for Asplundh Tree Expert Company and we were contracted full-time for the Electric Company in northern New Jersey.  Public Service Electric and Gas.   If anybody called in a tree they wanted to remove that could potentially hit any wires with a voltage higher then 220 VAC, we went out and took care of it fast. We just about never dropped wires out of the way.  Just topped out the trees to a point where they could not hit the wires when felled.

Now adays?  I live in central New York near Cobleskill. I have over 100 acres of forest with two separate runs of high-lines running through it.  Our power company is the former Niagara Mohawk.  It is now owned by a foreign company and called National Grid.   The other big company near here is - New York State Electric and Gas is also now foreign owned.  

I called in problem trees on my land two years ago and I'm still waiting.  In fact, one already came down on its own and burnt some new transmission lines.  I just called them again last week and they told me that excess funds are low and they now regard non-emergency jobs as a low priority.  They've had Reese Tree Service sub-contracting them.  The foreman has been here twice,  looked things over  and then - leave.  I've been told over and over that other higher priorities came up.

To the flip-side of this - if you cut a tree yourself, or hire someone to do the work and they damage wires -the power company will try to hold you responsible.

I had similar problems a few years ago with unmarked buried phone cables on my land.  I cut them and Verizon tried to make me pay. I refused, they pursued it, and they lost.  Lucky for me I read the buried-cable laws very closely.


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## flyingcow (Apr 6, 2011)

Call the electric company, and explain what you want. Explain that it would be a sad case if you cut these down because they wouldn't. Also write a letter, return receipt included. They will come.


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## Nic36 (Apr 7, 2011)

Like Jdemaris, I worked for Asplundh tree company for a while after graduating college. Down here, we were very aggressive about completely removing trees near power lines if we were allowed. This was done under the recommendation of the power company and was done for free for the owner. If a tree normally required trimming and the owner asked to have it cut down, we would. It was more work to cut it down than to trim, but the power company's logic was that it would never have to be trimmed again and would save them money in the long run. 

It sounds like they are pretty close to the lines and may even be in the right-of-way. So, you might want to see if they will cut them for you for free before you offer to do so. I doesn't hurt to ask. (Don't mention you were thinking about doing it on your own.) 

We never had to drop lines and made a point never to do so. With the right equipment and knowledge, the lines probably don't need to be dropped.


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## orionrogue (Apr 7, 2011)

Thanks for the responses.  I do have National Grid in my area.  I'll call them today and see if they'll trim or drop them on their own.  If I get nothing from that, then I'll go with my secondary approach asking them to drop the line so I can proceed on my own.


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## woodmeister (Apr 7, 2011)

27 years with a utility we would drop the service in the am and come back at the end of the day, on occasion if it was a small tree and the customer looked like they had no clue we would just cut the tree ourselves. line crews as a rule aren't set up to cut trees, just equipped to do light trimming. Make the call get it dropped I've got many horror stories about homeowner and trees and wires.


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## billb3 (Apr 7, 2011)

If they don't weigh too much branches often bounce right off.










Witnessed during a hurricane.


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## smokinj (Apr 7, 2011)

f3cbboy said:
			
		

> smokinjay said:
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I am thinking 7 good size trees be over your head deep in trees for a few hours....lol


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## fbelec (Apr 8, 2011)

anytime i had to move or do any type of disconnect the power company wanted to charge me 600.00 dollars.


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## richg (Apr 8, 2011)

jdemaris said:
			
		

> OrionRogue said:
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## velvetfoot (Apr 8, 2011)

Is the increased line clearance activity due to the ash borer?


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## velvetfoot (Apr 8, 2011)

And you thought Grid was bad?

http://www.timesunion.com/business/article/Report-Buyers-court-National-Grid-1319130.php

Report: Buyers court National Grid
Neither owner nor potential European buyers will confirm story in financial publication
By Larry Rulison Business writer
Published 12:01 a.m., Saturday, April 2, 2011 

Page 1 of 1
ALBANY -- Two European utility companies have expressed interest in acquiring National Grid's holdings in the United States, including its upstate New York operations, according to dealReporter, a financial news service that targets hedge funds.

DealReporter, which is owned by the company that publishes the Financial Times, wrote this week that the suitors include Spanish utility Iberdrola, which already has a substantial presence in upstate New York through its ownership of New York State Electric & Gas and Rochester Gas & Electric. 

If Iberdrola were to acquire National Grid's operations here, it would control nearly all of the electric and natural gas distribution upstate.

The other bidder was a German utility known as E.ON, dealReporter said.

National Grid, which has steadfastly denied it has any plan to sell its U.S. operations despite lackluster results, reiterated that stance once again Friday after being asked about the dealReporter story, which quoted unnamed industry sources.

"National Grid doesn't comment on speculation from unnamed sources," said National Grid spokesman Alberto Bianchetti. "We are committed to our U.S. business and consider it a vital part of National Grid overall."

Iberdrola USA Daniel Hucko said the company would not comment on the story. A spokesman for E.ON could not immediately be reached.

Speculation that National Grid might want to sell its U.S. businesses increased earlier this year when the company's $360 million electric rate hike request was denied by the state Public Service Commission in favor of a more modest $113 million increase.

Shortly after the PSC decision in January, National Grid also announced a plan to reduce its U.S. work force by 1,200 people. The restructuring is expected to be completed by the summer.

London-based National Grid entered the market a decade ago when it purchased Niagara Mohawk Power Corp., whose operations stretched from Buffalo to Albany. 

NYSEG and RG&E, the Iberdrola affiliates, cover the Rochester and Binghamton areas and parts of the Capital Region.

The dealReporter story also says that investment bankers have approached National Grid about a possible initial public offering of its U.S. operations, a move that would provide National Grid with much-needed capital as it replaces an aging electric system across New York and New England, where it also has significant operations.

James Denn, a PSC spokesman, said, generally speaking, if a utility were to hold an IPO, it would likely need PSC approval. He did not address National Grid rumors.

Reach Larry Rulison at 454-5504 or at lrulison@timesunion.com.


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