Tree Planting

When trees come into contact with power lines, bad things can happen. Branches can tangle with the trees, snapping power lines or simply causing brief short circuits that make your lights blink and that can damage sensitive electronic equipment like computers. Squirrels can use trees to climb on power lines, where they can cause shortages and outages.

That's why electric power co-ops work hard to make sure trees don't interfere with power lines. You can help by being careful about planting trees. If you'd like to add a tree, consider how large it will become when fully grown. If you plant the tree under or close to power lines, it might not present any problems for 10 or 20 years. But once that tree has grown, its branches might interfere with the power lines, and that can be dangerous.

So make sure you don't plant the tree in an area where it might grow into a power line. It's also a good idea to choose a species that isn't going to grow tall or wide enough to threaten power lines. A nursery owner or your county extension agent can recommend trees that will add the beauty you want without presenting a problem.