Tree touching power lines: who is responsible, country by country

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. Every row is what the named source says and nothing more. Each row reports what one named source says about who is responsible; the utility or regulator named in that row is the office to ask.

What three of the sources say about danger

The International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) brochure on recognizing tree risk says trees that fall onto utility lines can injure people and cause outages, surges and fires. It says never to try to take branches or other tree parts off lines or from near them, never to go near downed power lines, which could still be conducting electricity, and to call the local electricity provider if tree parts are touching utility lines. The Energy Safe Victoria FAQ says a person does not have to touch a powerline to receive an electric shock. Manitoba Hydro says to stay at least 10 m (30 feet) from sparking or burning lines and call 911.

Country by country

Place	What the named source says
United States	The ISA brochure says to call the local electricity provider about tree parts in contact with lines. Who clears a tree is not published in the brochure.
Canada, Manitoba	Manitoba Hydro says owners are responsible for trees on their land and the municipality for trees on public land, and that only a qualified utility arborist should work within 3 m (10 feet) of a line. Own page: Manitoba.
United Kingdom	The Health and Safety Executive says anyone working within 10 m of overhead lines should seek advice from the owner of the line, usually the network operator. Who clears a private owner's tree is not published on that page.
Australia, Victoria	Energy Safe Victoria says an owner clears trees around their own service line and the distribution business clears around lines outside the boundary. Own page: Victoria.
New Zealand	The Electricity (Hazards from Trees) Regulations 2003, in the version in force from July 23, 2026, say a lines owner (the regulations say works owner) that learns of a tree encroaching the growth limit zone gives the tree owner a cut or trim notice, and the tree owner then has the tree cut or trimmed within the time limits the regulations set. Schedule 2 sets the growth limit zone by the span and voltage of the line. The regulations say a treefall hazard notice may not be given before July 23, 2028, and that the lines owner generally meets the reasonable cost of removing such a tree. On unforested land outside urban areas, they say a tree planted from July 23, 2027 within 24 m of a line is allowed only on the grounds they list, such as reasonable grounds to believe its mature height will be less than its fall distance to the line.

For the United Kingdom, the Health and Safety Executive page working near power lines and cables is written for people doing tree work. It says the distance is measured at ground level horizontally from below the nearest wire, that work beyond 10 m that could breach it is also covered, and that the first choice is to work with the power off. The guide on working near power lines covers the worker rules, and utility line clearance covers the utility arborist trade.

Using the pages below

The pages for Manitoba and Victoria, and the New Zealand row, each rest on the pages of one utility or regulator. They are not a description of the rest of that country.

Places with their own page

Tree touching power lines in Manitoba, Canada: who is responsible

Open

Tree touching power lines in Victoria, Australia: who is responsible