Tree touching power lines in Wales: who is responsible

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It describes the Act, the safety regulations and Health and Safety Executive guidance, plus one network operator's leaflet. The legislation site marks the Act and the regulations as extending to England, Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland has its own rules and is not covered. Wales has more than one network operator, and this page reads the pages of only one of them.

What the Electricity Act says

Paragraph 9 of Schedule 4 to the Electricity Act 1989 applies where a tree is, or will be, so close to an electric line or electrical plant kept installed by a licence holder that it obstructs or interferes with installing, maintaining or working the line or plant, or is an unacceptable source of danger to children or other persons. The legislation site marks the paragraph as extending to England, Wales and Scotland. The Act says "tree" includes any shrub.

The licence holder may give notice to the occupier of the land requiring the tree to be felled or lopped, or its roots cut back, subject to paying the occupier the expenses reasonably incurred in complying.
Where the occupier is not also the owner, a copy of the notice goes to the owner.
If within 21 days of the notice its requirements are not met and neither owner nor occupier gives a counter notice, the licence holder may cause the tree to be felled or lopped, or the roots cut back.
If within 21 days the owner or occupier gives a counter notice objecting, the matter is referred to the Secretary of State unless the counter notice is withdrawn. After giving the parties a chance to be heard by a person the Secretary of State appoints, the Secretary of State may make the order that seems just, which may let the licence holder do the work and may settle what expenses are paid.

The Act adds that when a licence holder uses these powers, the work is done in accordance with good arboricultural practice and so as to do as little damage as possible to trees, fences, hedges and growing crops. Felled trees, lopped boughs and root cuttings are removed in accordance with the directions of the owner or occupier, and the licence holder makes good any damage done to the land.

What the safety regulations say

The Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002, regulation 20A, added from October 1, 2006, says a generator or distributor shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, ensure there is no interference with or interruption of supply caused by insufficient clearance between any of its overhead lines and a tree or other vegetation. Regulation 18(5) says no overhead line shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, come so close to any building, tree or structure as to cause danger. Both provisions are marked as extending to England, Wales and Scotland.

What the Health and Safety Executive says

The Health and Safety Executive page working near power lines and cables, dated September 22, 2026, is written for people who do tree work. It says to get competent advice from the owner of the lines, usually the network operator, for work within 10 m of overhead power lines, measured at ground level horizontally from below the nearest wire. It says work further away that could breach the distance, for example through a falling tree, is also covered. It says the network operator should help set up a safe system of work, which can include switching the electricity off, refining safety distances, or arranging for a specialised utility arboricultural contractor. It also says that where advice published elsewhere conflicts on safety distances, the operator's advice is to be sought first.

The Health and Safety Executive guidance note GS6, Avoiding danger from overhead power lines, fourth edition, says in paragraph 4 to assume a power line is live until its owner has confirmed it is dead. Paragraphs 13 and 14 say the owner of the line can be asked about diverting it, replacing it with underground cable, or switching it off for the work, and that the owner may charge for work done.

What a Welsh-language leaflet from SP Energy Networks says

SP Energy Networks publishes its two-page leaflet "Safety Matters: Dangers of trees near power lines" in English and in a Welsh-language edition. The English edition, read October 10, 2026, says the company has a legal obligation to keep trees at a safe distance from overhead lines, naming the Electricity Act 1989 and the 2002 safety regulations as amended in 2006. It describes a safety clearance programme and a network resilience programme, and a 3 year cyclic cutting programme in which contractors agree the work with the owner and dispose of the waste as the owner wishes. Its "industry standard safety clearance" table gives 0.5 metres for insulated conductors and 3 metres for uninsulated conductors; these are the leaflet's figures, not a statutory distance. It gives 0330 10 10 444 for general tree safety enquiries and 105 for power cuts and emergencies. The Tree Safety page of the same company, read October 10, 2026, says tree cutting works on the owner's land are provided free of charge.

What the sources leave out

None of these texts names the operator for a given Welsh address, and none sets a fee payable by the owner for the licence holder's own cutting. Rules for council land and for lines that no licence holder owns are not in these texts.

Credit: the Electricity Act 1989, the 2002 Regulations, the HSE page and GS6 are reported from legislation.gov.uk and hse.gov.uk, which contain public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Who to call

The network operator: the owner of the lines, usually the network operator, for advice before work within 10 m of overhead lines, per the Health and Safety Executive
SP Energy Networks, 0330 10 10 444: general tree safety enquiries on its leaflet, which also exists in Welsh
Health and Safety Executive: publishes GS6, the guidance note on avoiding danger from overhead power lines