Tree Trimming
Vegetation, specifically trees and vines can cause unplanned power outages in TNMP’s service territory. To help reduce outages and safety hazards, TNMP prunes, or removes, thousands of trees near power lines each year. TNMP easements, especially those on newer lines, permit the removal of trees in the easement irrespective of any interference with the actual line. There are also expanded rights to address trees off of an easement on the newer lines as well.
TNMP employees and contractors may need to access your property to prune or removes trees and to perform other work to repair or prevent power outages.
We will attempt to contact you before entering your property, but it may be necessary - particularly during an outage or an emergency - to begin work on your property before alerting you.
Section 5.4.8 of TNMP's retail delivery service tariff, which is approved by the state Public Utility Commission, provides further details. Download TNMP's tariffs.
Who’s Responsible:
- TNMP proactively prunes, and when appropriate removes, trees for electrical clearance and prioritizes its schedule to focus on the areas where reliability is most at risk. Work is performed by licensed contractors that are trained in safe utility vegetation management.
- The customer is responsible for maintaining trees to prevent them from growing closer than 10 ft of the electrical lines. However, if your trees are already within 10 ft of the electrical lines, please contact TNMP at 888-866-7456 to have your trees / assessed, or to have your service drop (the line from the pole to your house) disconnected.
How we trim:
TNMP adheres to Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM) principles and ANSI 300 Tree Care Operations practices. Other objectives include adherence to all regulatory and legal requirements, continuous environmental improvement, and adherence to ANSI Z133 worker safety practices. When permitted by law, it may remove trees where appropriate.
Utilization of these principles/standards will:
- Promote continued tree growth (away from the lines).
- Minimize the need for future trimming.
- Cause the least amount of stress to the tree.
- Reduce the likelihood of disease, decay, and excessive re-sprouting.
Appearance of utility pruned trees:
