Cut trees and bushes
Power lines
We often receive requests from customers who are working on trimming trees near power lines and require the power to be temporarily switched off. This is requested to ensure the safety of their tree surgeons. We're here to assist with this process by scheduling a convenient time to visit your location, understand the work involved, and schedule in a suitable date to complete the work. In some cases, we may need to trim trees near our power lines before your tree surgeon can begin their work.
If you notice any trees or bushes getting too close to the overhead power lines or if you foresee any potential issues in the future, please don't hesitate to report it to us directly. Our teams will arrange a visit to assess and plan in any necessary works.
For more information on working near overhead power lines please read the GS6 guide on the HSE website.
Tree surgeons need the power turned off to work safely
Trees are close to power lines and our teams need to assess them
Safety around power lines
You should always treat electricity power lines as being live. If you see them hanging low, damaged or grounded, please stay at least 10 metres away from the equipment and call us 24 hours a day on 0800 31 63 105 or 105. If you think they're causing significant risk to the public, please call 999.
If you are requesting for the power to be switched off, we would need your tree surgeon to confirm how long they need the power to be off, this will help with the planning. Typically the longest we allow for a shut down is 8 hours.
We need up to 15 working days from when we have processed your request to get someone to visit you.
What's involved
Request a free site visit or report an issue
To temporarily turn off the power or report trees near our power lines, the first step is to request a free site visit. Both can be done by completing the relevant online form or by logging onto our portal which can be found further down.
We'll contact you to plan a visit
We'll contact you within 15 working days to arrange a suitable date to visit you to assess the work involved. This will help us plan in the work.
Advance notice to neighbours
Before we temporarily turn off the power, depending on the type of power line and who it supplies power to, we may need to provide advance notice your neighbours as it's likely their power will go off. This applies if we're turning the power off for your tree surgeons or if we're carrying out work following a report from a customer.
We'll turn off the power
On the planned date, we will turn off the power to allow your tree surgeon to complete their tree trimming or for our teams to address reported issues.
Common questions
Need to temporarily turn off the power for tree trimming?
You can request this service by registering or logging in to our self service portal which also allows you to submit multiple applications and track the progress of any existing applications. All incomplete application forms will automatically save to your dashboard, so you can always come back to them later. Alternatively you can continue to request this service as a guest user.
Want to let us know about trees which are close to power lines?
You can let us know by registering or logging in to our self service portal which also allows you to submit multiple applications and track the progress of any existing applications. All incomplete application forms will automatically save to your dashboard, so you can always come back to them later. Alternatively you can continue to request this service as a guest user.