Tree touching power lines in Colorado, United States: who is responsible

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It describes the pages of one utility and one statute article. It does not cover Colorado's other investor-owned, municipal or cooperative utilities, and no Colorado Public Utilities Commission page on trees was opened for this page. Other states have their own rules.

What Xcel Energy says about tree work

The Xcel Energy page Tree Pruning and Maintenance sets out what the company does and does not do.

Question	What the Xcel Energy page says
Tree removal near lines	The page asks for a call to 800-895-4999 before a tree near power lines is removed. The service it describes is pruning a portion of the tree away from the lines so a tree worker who is not qualified to work near power lines can finish the removal. It calls this a Safety Zone and says the wood and brush are not hauled away.
Pole-to-house line	The company does not trim for clearance along these lines except where major interference exists, such as broken limbs on the lines or significant deflection of the lines by a branch. It says these lines are fully energized and extremely dangerous, and that a qualified professional tree trimmer may be hired in some areas.
Disconnect	The same number is given for a pole-to-house line to be temporarily disconnected during pruning.
Cost	There is no charge for the tree work the company or its contractors perform. The page says the cost is part of the rates approved by the state utility commission.

How it sets clearances

The page Distribution Line Maintenance says its clearance guidelines rest on tree growth rates and structural defects, the type of line, voltage, outage history and other factors, so each tree is assessed to decide the clearance needed. It names the American National Standards Institute A300 standard and says contractor tree workers are expected to follow it when possible and practical, together with the International Society of Arboriculture booklet on utility pruning. It adds that pruning may leave trees with an unnatural appearance and that in some cases replacing the tree with a more compatible one may be better.

The page Transmission Line Maintenance says the company is required to keep transmission facilities and rights of way clear of all vegetation that could grow too close to conductors, using tree removal, pruning, mowing and herbicide. It describes a wire zone directly under the conductors, kept to low-growing forbs and grasses, and a border zone out to the edge of the easement that may hold additional low-growing woody plants and trees. It gives four maintenance aims: public and worker safety, compliance with regulatory and legal requirements, reliable service and environmental stewardship.

What Colorado law says

Article 2.5 of Title 9 of the Colorado Revised Statutes, headed High Voltage Power Lines - Safety Requirements, defines high voltage as voltage in excess of 600 volts. Section 9-2.5-102 says that unless the danger of contact has been guarded against as section 9-2.5-103 provides, a person or business entity shall not perform, or require another person to perform, any function or activity where it could reasonably be expected that a person could move or be placed within ten feet of a high voltage overhead line, or that equipment, part of a tool or material could be brought within that distance.

Section 9-2.5-103 says a person who wants to work closer than that must promptly notify the public utility operating the line, and may work only after satisfactory mutual arrangements are made, which may include temporary mechanical barriers, temporary de-energization and grounding, or temporary relocation or raising of the lines. The person responsible pays the utility's actual expenses, with an estimate promptly provided by the utility. The utility starts the clearance work within three working days after a payment agreement is reached or, if no payment is required, within five working days of the request. Where the operator's identity is not easily known, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, on request, provides the name, address and telephone number of the utility.

Section 9-2.5-104 says a violator may be subject to a civil penalty of up to US$1,000, up to US$2,000 for each violation for a repeat violator, who may also be liable for attorney fees and costs, and is liable to the line owner for damages if contact results. Section 9-2.5-105 exempts, among others, construction, operation or maintenance of overhead lines by an authorized person, which section 9-2.5-101 defines to include employees of a public utility, and says highway vehicles shall not be operated within four and one-half feet of a high voltage overhead line without complying with sections 9-2.5-102 and 9-2.5-103. The text read is the 2024 edition of the statutes, published by the Colorado General Assembly as an uncertified printout.

What the sources leave out

The pages read give no Colorado rule on which party clears a tree on private land and no clearance distance for the tree owner other than the ten feet above. The Xcel Energy pages do not say who pays when a private tree falls on a pole-to-house line.

Who to call

Xcel Energy, tree pruning and maintenance page: tree removal near power lines or a temporary disconnect of a pole-to-house line: 800-895-4999, per the company
Colorado Public Utilities Commission: the name of the utility operating a high voltage line when it is not easily known, per section 9-2.5-103