Tree touching power lines in New Brunswick, Canada: who is responsible

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It describes the utility's own pages. Other Canadian provinces have their own utilities and rules, and none is covered here.

Which trees the utility works on

The NB Power page Requesting Tree Maintenance says that besides planned maintenance, the utility trims trees for customers when a problem tree is identified, and that there are two types: trees around primary lines and trees around secondary lines, which are what most residential properties have. It describes a primary line as one, two or three bare wires at the top of the pole, a secondary line as the insulated pole-to-pole line that appears as three twisted wires with a black coating, and a service loop as the line from the customer's house to the pole. It lists two cases for work: trees that pose a safety concern by touching or being close to a bare-wire primary line, and trees around secondary lines, service loops or telecommunications cable that are pushing the line from its normal path. It says the utility works on a tree only when it may be an electrical safety issue or when it affects, or could affect, power or communication lines.

How a request is handled

The same page says an owner can use the online form or call 1 800 663-6272. It says a representative makes a site visit within 30 business days, assesses the work and assigns a completion time of five, 30 or 90 working days from the visit date, and flags trees for removal or pruning with ribbon. It says debris and wood are left on site for the customer. For tree maintenance that does not meet the criteria, it points to a list of approved contractors.

The page Your Trees says the utility focuses first on requests for trees near dangerous high-voltage lines and also completes tree work near the lower-voltage service lines that connect a home to the main power source.

What the utility says about its program

The page How says the grid has approximately 27,000 kilometres of high and medium voltage lines and that contractors clear right-of-ways in three stages, one of which is a bucket truck crew that tops and prunes trees to a safe distance. It says pruning follows directional pruning standards, in which branches are removed near the point of connection with the tree. It says wood larger than 10 cm in diameter stays on site for the landowner, that crews cut every three to four years on rural right-of-ways, and that herbicide is applied selectively, not by air, under approvals from the provincial Department of Environment and Local Government that require a buffer from open water and a 15 metre setback from occupied dwellings.

Planting zones

The Your Trees page gives planting distances measured from the centre of the line:

Distance	What the page says
Beneath the line and 4.5 m in any direction	Reserved for low, slow-growing shrubs that never exceed 4.5 m. Nothing within 3 m of poles, guy wires or other structures.
4.5 m to 10.5 m	Small trees that will not grow higher than 9 m, or the shrubs listed for the first zone.
10.5 m to 13.5 m	Medium-sized trees up to 21 m in height, or the smaller plants above.
Within 13.5 m	Large trees that may grow more than 21 m tall should not be planted.

The page also says never to plant trees or climbing vines directly under power lines and gives 1 800 663-6272 for a locate before digging, at least two days before the work.

Who to call

911: a tree or power pole on fire: the utility page says the operator notifies the fire department and NB Power
NB Power, 1 800 663-6272: tree maintenance requests and underground line locates
NB Power, requesting tree maintenance: the online request form and the criteria for trees it works on