Seth Slabaugh, writing for the Indianapolis Star, reports that the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) will be holding hearings on utility tree trimming practices.
I’m biased on this issue after having had my own run-in with an electric company that wanted to cut down some of my trees. I had a line of trees blocking my house from a busy road to the west and, beyond that, a big expanse of field where the wind could really get howling. The line of trees were a barrier to the wind and the road. They were under some electric transmission lines, but the tops of the trees were something like 15 feet below the power lines. One day, my wife found people working on behalf of the electric company starting to take a chain saw to one of the trees and, naturally, asked them what the hell they were doing. They said they were with the electric company and apparently mumbled something about how we should have received notice. In fact there had been notice and my wife made them get off our property. I went and dug up the easement for the power lines, read it, and exchanged letters with counsel for the power company where I explained why their easement gave them no right to cut down my trees. The company never formally agreed with me, but they just sort of disappeared and our trees remained untouched until we eventually moved. I forget the exact language, but the easement gave them the right — understandably — to take reasonable measures to keep vegetation from interfering with their power lines.
And that’s the problem, as I see it. Power companies usually just want to take a chainsaw to the trees which is probably the cheapest solution but isn’t necessarily permitted by the terms of their easement if there are less intrusive (even if more expensive) ways for them to keep trees from interfering with their power lines.
In Muncie, the IURC hearing is scheduled for 8/31 at 6 p.m. at the Central High School auditorium. On the pro-property owner side of the issue is Charlie Goodman who has a website. He reports that the IURC will also hold these additional hearings:
Indianapolis – Pike High School – September 2
Seymour – September 8
Merrillville – September 23
Fort Wayne – September 29
Evansville – October 7
The Office of the Utility Consumer Counselor has more information here.
The indiscriminate cutting is also likely to spread fungal diseases to healthy trees. Saws should be disinfected to prevent this, but I’m pretty sure they don’t do that.
Never thought of that. But, I guess using the same saw on tree after tree after tree is like a tattoo parlor using the same needles on all its customers.
Perhaps you missed this in all the fine print, but rarely do property owners have aerial rights in utility easements. You put a tree there, and if they want to run over it with a truck or chop it into an ugly sculpture, they can. Same with fences.
An aerial electric transmission line runs through the subdivision I live in. Fences and landscaping are allowed, but ground level access must be maintained (it is, as a ten foot strip), and any trees cannot mature over a certain height (no towering oaks, firs, maples, etc). Plus, if the utility has to come in with heavy equipment on the ground, the owner is liable for their own repairs.
Why people continue to put landscaping efforts into utility easements amazes me. If a utility company has to dig in the easement, a property owner can count themselves fortunate if the damage is repaired.
I’ve seen it done to original equivalence, but it’s rare.
It’s been awhile since I read the easement, but it was pretty short and to the point, as I recall. It basically gave them the power to act “reasonably” to keep plant growth away from their lines. Perhaps my easement was not the norm.
Ha-ha-ha. You’re an attorney. “Reasonably” covers the gamut of behavior, if their lawyers say it does.
It’s all in the argumentation.
Btw, I really like your new format/layout.
I have a utility easement running along the back of my property. I recently put up a fence, but only needed to put up a fence on one side of my yard because the neighbor to the back had a fence and the neighbor to the other side had a fence, so I might as well use theirs as by boundaries. The only problem was the last ten feet of the easement that I needed the fence to go over (can’t have gaps if I want to keep the dog inside) but didn’t want to be put in jeopardy in the easement. So, I simply made that section of fence removable by securing it with a couple of bolts instead of permanently affixing it to the wooden posts. So now, if the utility needs to come in and work all I have to do is unbolt that section of fence and they have full access to their easement.
Just a little thinking ahead makes everyone’s life easier. Unless, of course, if they come to do work when I am not home and tear down my fence because they don’t know it’s removable. I guess we’ll cross that bridge when if we come to it….