Tree touching power lines in Michigan, 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 two utilities' own pages. It does not cover Michigan's other electric utilities, and the Michigan Public Service Commission specifications the Consumers Energy page mentions were not opened for this page. Other states have their own rules.

DTE Energy

The DTE page Tree Trimming says the company assesses overgrown trees and trims around power lines where necessary, and says fallen trees account for nearly half the time its customers spend without power.

Notice: a letter before work, an assessment by planners, and a door hanger describing the trimming needed on the property.
Removal: a tree that poses a serious hazard to the lines, or that trimming would damage, may need to be removed. The page says such trees are marked with two white dots, planners try to contact the owner, and a tree removal permit is signed before the tree is marked with a white X.
Debris: wood from DTE maintenance work is cut into manageable pieces and left piled on the property, and debris is chipped and removed. Trees or limbs that fall from natural causes such as weather, dead or dying wood and disease are the customer's responsibility to remove.
Service drop: the line from the utility pole to the home. The page says DTE does not trim around these lines.

The page TreeGuard Assurance says customers with an overhead service line look after the equipment fixed to their homes, and that trees and tree trimming there are the customer's to manage. It describes TreeGuard as an elective program covering tree-related outages that affect the service line. The Tree Trimming page asks for 5 to 7 business days for a response to its inquiry form for the tree trimming program.

Consumers Energy

The Consumers Energy page Trees and Power Lines says its information refers only to trees and vegetation around distribution wires from 240 V to 14.4 kV, and not to high voltage lines.

Question	What the page says
Service drop	Trees and branches on or near wires that run from the pole to a building are the property owner's responsibility. The company can create temporary disconnect and reconnect orders so an owner's tree contractor can work safely.
Other wires	The company clears trees around its electric wires, and does not clear for telephone, cable TV or fiber optic lines owned by other companies. Streetlights are generally the municipality's responsibility.
Dead trees	The company cuts dead trees along primary voltage distribution lines within distances in its easements or its specifications filed with the Michigan Public Service Commission. It does not cut dead trees along service lines to homes.
Marks	A blue dot means trim, a blue X means cut down (a blue A if outside the easement), and a blue slash means brush clearing.
Notice	A postcard before inspection, and a letter no more than 90 days before crews start, with the contractor's name and contact information. A separate FAQ answer says a letter is mailed about two weeks before crews begin.
Wood	On residential property wood is cut into lengths for handling and left on site, not cut to firewood lengths. In landscaped areas brush is chipped and removed. Stumps of cut trees are cut close to the ground and treated with herbicide to prevent regrowth.

The page says clearance standards vary with the voltage of nearby lines, and that the decision to trim or cut depends on species, location and health. For a downed line it lists 9-1-1 first, then 800-477-5050.

What the sources leave out

Neither page sets a clearance distance in feet or cites a Michigan statute.

Who to call

911: a downed power line, per the utility, before calling the utility
Consumers Energy, 800-477-5050: a downed line, or a temporary disconnect for tree work at a service drop
DTE Energy, tree trimming inquiry form: non-emergency questions about the tree trimming program