Tree touching power lines in Georgia, United States: who is responsible
Georgia Power, an electric utility in Georgia, publishes tree, easement and question pages that say what it prunes, what stays with the property owner and how its transmission rights-of-way work. This page reports what those pages say.
This page is for tree owners. It reports what the named sources say and is not advice about your tree: for that, ask a qualified arborist or one of the offices under Who to call.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 9, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.
This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It describes one utility's own pages. It does not cover Georgia's electric membership corporations or municipal utilities, and no Georgia statute or Public Service Commission rule was opened for this page. Other states have their own rules.
What Georgia Power says it does
The Georgia Power page Land, Trees and Power Lines says the company maintains and protects the rights-of-way under its power lines, which means pruning and removing trees, cutting brush and applying herbicides. It describes three lines of work:
- Residential vegetation management: trees are pruned away from lines on a planned cycle, the whole line is completed, and individual pruning requests are not scheduled.
- Transmission vegetation management: vegetation is maintained on thousands of miles of transmission easements. The page says mowing is typically done once every six years, and that all transmission lines are patrolled by air and ground once a year.
- Pruning method: lateral branches are pruned and limbs removed at strong branches or the trunk, which the page says protects the tree's natural defense mechanisms and reduces regrowth.
On planting inside an easement, the page says shrubs, gardens, grasses and trees that mature at under 15 feet are generally allowed, as long as they do not restrict access and do not threaten safe operation of the transmission line.
Questions the company answers
| Question | What the FAQ page says |
|---|---|
| Entering property | The company says it has an obligation to maintain its facilities and the right to enter and leave private property, that it complies with the National Electric Safety Code, and that easement agreements typically include rights of ingress and egress. |
| Notice | It tries to notify owners in person before work. If no one is home, a door hanger with the projected pruning date and a contact number is left on the main entry door. |
| Standards | Trees are pruned or removed by professional contractors, and pruning follows standards developed by the American National Standards Institute and the International Society of Arboriculture. |
| Removal | Trees that are a risk to service and public safety may be removed, particularly after repeated or severe pruning. The company says it may provide a suitable low-growing replacement tree, and that only low-growing species are permitted on defined width easements. |
| Storms | Trees fallen from natural causes and interfering with lines are cut away so power can be restored. After storms, vegetation debris cleanup is the property owner's responsibility. |
| Lights | The company does not prune or remove vegetation blocking outdoor lighting, which it says is the owner's responsibility. It repairs a service light or its wire if vegetation has damaged it. |
| Damage | The contractor performing the work is responsible for repairs, and damage can be reported to the Vegetation Management Land Agent who worked with the owner. |
| Easement for trimming | The page says the Vegetation Management program is voluntary, and that a customer can opt in and give the company more tree trimming rights. |
Easements and encroachments
The page Easements and Restrictions says rights-of-way are the strips of land under transmission lines, mostly held as easements that let the company keep the land clear of obstructions and reach it for repairs. It defines an encroachment as any use or activity within the right-of-way that restricts the full use for which it was established, and says an encroachment application form goes in for review and approval before any work. It lists as examples of permitted uses, with an agreement and standards, fills, grading, streets, roads and driveways, parking and fences, and as not permissible fueling and permanent fuel storage, dumps and junkyards, and signboards over 15 feet high. It says a minimum undisturbed area within a 25-foot radius of a structure or attachment location should be kept.
What the sources leave out
The pages read give no clearance distance for trees near distribution lines and no price for any owner. The FAQ page, Tree and Vegetation Management FAQs, tells readers to contact the company when a fallen tree is in contact with a line.
Who to call
- Georgia Power, tree and vegetation management contact page: questions about trees and power lines or the use of easements
- Georgia Power, tree and vegetation management FAQs: a fallen tree in contact with a power line, per the company