A Tree Is in the Power Lines at Your Houston Home: The Safe Order of Steps

The first minutes: distance first, then the report

A line that has gone quiet can still be live, and a wet tree, fence or puddle can carry current to someone who never touches the wire. Treat every line in contact with a tree as dangerous until the utility tells you otherwise.

• Keep people and pets well back from the tree, the wire and anything touching them.
• Do not cut, pull or prune the tree, even branches that look far from the wire.
• Do not drive over a downed line or park under a sagging one.
• Report it to CenterPoint Energy through its website or app, with the exact location.
• If there is fire, sparking or an injury, call emergency services first.

Why tree work near energized lines is not a homeowner job

Texas law restricts work close to high voltage overhead lines, and the safe practice is simple: nobody but the utility, or a crew working under its arrangements, cuts a tree that is touching or near one. That is why tree crews call the utility before they climb.

Storm-loaded trees add a second hazard. A limb bent under a wire stores energy like a spring and can whip back when cut. A line can also come back on without warning, including from a generator wired into a house the wrong way. If you run one, use a transfer switch an electrician installs, so it cannot feed power into a line someone is cutting near.

Street lines on poles versus the service drop to your house

Who handles the tree depends on which wire it is touching. CenterPoint has said most of the tree damage in Beryl came from vegetation outside its rights of way, so yard trees, not only street trees, are what bring lines down.

That split matters after a storm. A tree lying on the street lines may wait for a utility crew before anyone can touch it, while a tree on your drop can often be cleared once the utility has made that one line safe.

What our crew does after the line is made safe

Once the utility has cut power or cleared its wire, the job becomes a careful storm removal. We confirm the line status before anyone climbs, then take the tree apart from the top or the free end. Pieces come down on ropes so nothing lands back on the drop, the meter or the roof.

Bent, loaded limbs are cut in a sequence that releases tension slowly. If the tree tore the mast or meter box off the house, that repair belongs to an electrician, and the utility decides when to reconnect. We clear the wood so both can do their part, through emergency tree removal, hung-up limb removal and storm cleanup.

Signs a tree is already wearing on your service drop

Most lines come down after months of contact a homeowner could have seen from the driveway. These signs are worth reporting, or booking a trim, before storm season.

• The drop bounces or sways whenever the tree moves in the wind.
• Limbs rest on the line or rub it, wearing the dark outer coating.
• The drop sags lower than other lines on the same street.
• The mast or weatherhead on the roof leans toward the tree.
• Lights flicker in wind while the rest of the street has power.

Limbs over the service drop before the next storm

Most trees that end up on wires spent years growing toward them. Beryl cut power to about 2.26 million CenterPoint customers, and CenterPoint said trees weakened by three years of freezes, drought and heavy spring rain did severe damage across its system. Clearing limbs off your drop is far easier on a calm spring day than after they have pulled it down.

Our trimming near power lines starts with that utility coordination. For yard trees nowhere near a wire, a storm-season walkthrough finds the leaning pines and dead limbs most likely to come down next.

Planting under Houston power lines so it does not happen again

The cheapest line clearance is the tree that never reaches the wire. Under or near overhead lines, plant a small ornamental whose mature height stays well below them, and give tall pines and oaks open ground away from the drop. Yaupon holly, redbud and dwarf crape myrtles are the usual small choices. Check the tag for mature height before you dig, not after the first trim. A pine already leaning toward the drop and the house is worth a look before June.