What should the board do when the power company wants to trim or remove trees on HOA common area?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised October 19, 2026

What an HOA board does when the electric utility plans to trim or cut trees on common area: easement rights, state rules, cleanup terms, safety and replanting.

Part of the HOA board handbook: vendors, projects and upkeep.

The short answer

You usually cannot stop a utility from clearing trees away from its lines, but you can shape how it happens. Find out which line is involved and what easement the utility holds. Ask for a walk-through with the utility's forester or contract supervisor before work starts, mark the trees that matter, and get the cleanup terms in writing: chipping, stump grinding, hauling and repair of turf and irrigation. Tell the owners whose homes back up to the work. Keep the association's own landscaper away from the lines, and plan replacement planting that will not grow back into them. Rules vary by state, by the utility's tariff and by what your plat and easements say. This guide is general education, not legal advice.

Find out what right the utility has

Start with the notice or door hanger. It should name the utility, the line or circuit, and the contractor. Then pull the recorded plat and any separate easement deeds for the tract. Most subdivisions dedicate utility easements on the plat, and the wording decides how far the utility can go. Some easements give the utility the right to trim and remove vegetation that interferes with its lines. Others say less, and some trees stand outside the easement entirely. Our guide on responding to a utility easement request on HOA common area explains how to read one. Next, ask whether the line is distribution or transmission. Neighborhood distribution lines on wooden poles are the common case. Big transmission lines on steel towers are a different matter: the federal reliability standard FAC-003-5 requires vegetation management on overhead transmission lines operated at 200 kV or higher, including lines that cross private land. A transmission owner has little room to negotiate on clearance, so put your effort into cleanup and replanting.

What Texas, Florida and Colorado rules say

In Texas, Public Utility Commission rule 16 TAC section 25.96 covers vegetation management on distribution lines below 60 kV. Each utility must keep a vegetation management plan, review it every year, and describe its customer education, notification and outreach practices. It must also report to the commission by May 1 each year, including obstacles such as property owner interference. The rule does not set a notice deadline to property owners, so ask the utility for its plan and its notice practice. In Florida, section 163.3209 of the Florida Statutes bars local governments from requiring permits for vegetation maintenance and tree pruning inside an established electric right-of-way. The utility must give the local government at least 5 business days' notice, but the statute requires no notice to property owners. It also says the preemption does not cover removing trees outside the right-of-way, and the work must follow the ANSI A300 pruning standard. Florida's storm protection plans under section 366.96 include vegetation management, defined to include tree trimming and removal of trees or brush, so cycles may speed up after a storm season. In Colorado, the Public Utilities Commission approved Xcel Energy's wildfire mitigation plan in June 2025 with commitments on community outreach and engagement around vegetation management. Ask your utility which plan governs your area.

Walk the site before the crews come

Call the number on the notice and ask for a walk-through with the utility forester or the contractor's general foreman. Bring a board member who knows the property and a printed site map. Go tree by tree. For each one, ask whether it will be pruned or removed, how much will come off, and why. Florida law and the Texas rule both point to the ANSI A300 pruning standard, so ask the crew to follow it. A tree that would lose most of its crown may be better removed and replaced. Then settle the cleanup. Ask in writing whether the crew will chip brush on site or haul it away, whether logs will be cut and left or removed, whether stumps will be ground, and who repairs ruts, broken sprinkler heads and damaged fences. Ask for the work dates, the hours, where trucks will park, and whether they need a gate key. If a tree near the lines was already on your arborist's list for removal, ask whether the utility will take it out during the same visit. Our guide on planning an HOA tree maintenance program shows how to keep that list current.

Keep your own crews away from the lines

When owners see a ragged trim, someone will offer to have the landscaper fix it. Do not allow that near a power line. Under OSHA 29 CFR 1910.333(c)(3), an unqualified worker may not come within 10 feet of an overhead line carrying 50 kV or less, or bring a pole saw or ladder within that distance, and the distance grows by 4 inches for every 10 kV above 50 kV. Work inside that zone is line-clearance tree trimming, which 29 CFR 1910.269 limits to trained line-clearance tree trimmers working on behalf of the utility. If a limb is touching a line, a tree has fallen across one, or an owner wants a branch removed over a service drop, call the utility. Put that rule in the landscaping contract and in the owner newsletter.

Replant the right tree in the right place

Trees that were cut back hard will grow back toward the lines, and the next crew will cut them again. Over time it is often cheaper to replace them with species that stay short. University of Florida extension guidance says trees planted within 20 feet of an overhead line should be small trees that mature under 25 feet, trees 20 to 50 feet away should mature under 40 feet, and taller trees belong more than 50 feet from the line. Check your local extension office for species lists that suit your climate. Ask the utility whether it has a replacement tree program for removals. Put replanting in the landscape budget for the following planting season, and update the tree inventory so the next board knows which trees came out and why.

Sample timeline and owner notice

Day 1: notice arrives. The manager or a director calls the utility, gets the circuit, the contractor and the planned dates, and pulls the plat. Days 2 to 5: board members walk the site with the utility representative and send an email confirming the tree list and cleanup terms. Day 6: notice goes to affected owners. Work days: one director checks progress each afternoon and photographs any damage. One week after: walk the site again, send the utility a written list of open items, and add replanting to the next budget. A notice the board can adapt: 'The electric utility will trim and remove trees along its power lines behind homes on [street] between [dates]. The work is required to keep the lines clear and is done by the utility's contractor, not the association. Please move vehicles, trailers and outdoor furniture away from the rear easement by [date]. Do not approach the crews or the lines. Report any damage to [contact] with photos so the board can send one list to the utility.'

Mistakes boards make

The usual ones: refusing access or blocking a gate, which only delays the work and loses the board any say in how it is done; assuming every tree near a line is inside the easement without checking the plat; accepting a verbal promise about cleanup and then getting brush piles left for weeks; letting the landscaper or a handy owner climb a tree near a live line; skipping the owner notice, so residents call the police on a crew they did not expect; forgetting to photograph the site before and after; and replanting tall shade trees under the same lines. Keep the notice, emails, photos and the final open-items list in the association's records. They make the conversation easier when the utility comes back in a few years.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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