Planting near power lines: what four utilities publish

This page describes what each utility's own web page says, as read on October 9, 2026. It does not say what suits any property: the distances are each utility's, they differ between utilities and they apply to that utility's lines. The general guidance for picking a tree is on the guide to choosing a tree to plant. For who is responsible when a tree touches a line, see the guide to trees touching power lines.

Zones and heights as the utilities print them

BC Hydro words its zones for distribution lines. FortisBC and Hydro One word theirs for power lines and overhead power lines.

Utility	Zone	Wording on its page
BC Hydro	Low zone	Five metres either side of the line; mature height of five metres or less
BC Hydro	Medium zone	From the low zone out to 10 metres from the pole and line; mature height of 12 metres at most. The page says trees taller than 12 metres in this zone cause most outages
BC Hydro	Tall zone	More than 10 metres from lines and poles: "virtually any strong, healthy tree" is fine
FortisBC	Clear zone	Nothing planted within five metres on either side of a power line
FortisBC	Low zone	From the clear zone out to ten metres either side; plants that grow to five metres or less
FortisBC	Medium and tall zone	Beyond that, trees of any height, as long as they will not fall on a line if blown over or uprooted
Hydro One	Low zone	Directly under the lines and five metres either side; plants not above three metres; a five metre area around poles kept clear. Examples named: dogwood, honeysuckle, silverberry
Hydro One	Medium zone	Five to eight metres either side; plants not above eight metres. Examples named: serviceberry, ornamental pear, white cedar
Hydro One	Tall zone	At least eight metres from overhead lines. Examples named: Colorado spruce, white pine, sugar maple

Service wires and transformer boxes

BC Hydro's page says the property owner is responsible for the trees and vegetation around the service wire, the line from the pole to the building, and around transformer boxes. It gives at least one metre of clearance around the service wire and at least three metres on all sides of shrubs and plants near transformer boxes. A separate paragraph on pad mounted transformer boxes gives a minimum of three metres (10 feet) in front of the doors and one metre (three feet) on all other sides, and says the cables to and from the box are buried 0.9 metres (3 feet) below the surface.

FortisBC's page gives at least three metres of clearance in front of the doors of a padmounted transformer, and says that the underground cables can extend out about 0.3 to one metre or more from the box. It also gives zones for underground high pressure pipelines within a right of way: a clear zone with plants up to 30 centimetres, a low zone from 2.5 to 10 metres from the gas line with plants up to 1.5 metres, and a tall zone from 10 metres where trees of any height are named.

Transmission lines

BC Hydro's page describes two zones for transmission lines. The low zone is the width of the statutory right-of-way, which it says ranges from 10 to 65 metres depending on voltage, with mature vegetation no taller than three metres. Anything that grows over three metres in the low zone needs a property referral. FortisBC's page says trees near higher voltage transmission lines need even greater clearances and gives a phone number for restrictions and permits.

Hydro One, Endeavour Energy and Manitoba Hydro

Hydro One's page on caring for your property says to avoid planting trees near power lines or electrical equipment, and that if a tree must go near a line on private land, the municipality is to be checked first for by-laws and any easements on the property are to be respected. Its separate vegetation management page repeats that advice.

Endeavour Energy says on its vegetation management page to choose trees that will stay well clear of powerlines as they grow, because large trees under or close to powerlines can create hazards and outages and may need regular pruning or removal. It prints no planting zones on that page, only a table of minimum clearances it follows for trees. It points to its Tree Management Plan for what to plant near powerlines and gives a three metre safety clearance away from powerlines.

Manitoba Hydro's tree and power line safety page says owners are responsible for vegetation on their land and, for safety, names a qualified utility arborist for trimming or removing trees within 3 metres (10 feet) of a line. It links a guide titled Right tree, right place. That guide sorts planting locations into three categories: shorter trees under a line but at least two metres (6.5 feet) from a hydro pole, medium trees at least six metres (20 feet) from a line, and taller trees at least 10 metres (33 feet) from a line. It says no trees may ever be planted within two metres (6.5 feet) of hydro poles.

Who to call

Your electricity distributor: the zones and heights for lines on your street; Hydro One, BC Hydro and FortisBC each print their own
A qualified utility arborist: any tree work within 3 metres (10 feet) of a line, per Manitoba Hydro
Trees touching power lines: who is responsible when a tree already touches a line