Utility tree trimming in Washington and Oregon

The rule that applies everywhere

Utilities prune their own primary and transmission lines on a cycle: every 2 to 3 years at PGE, 4 years at Tacoma Power, 4.5 at Seattle City Light, 5 at Avista. The service line to your house is different. Avista calls it the homeowner’s responsibility, PSE and Snohomish PUD say they do not trim it, Tacoma Power assigns it to the customer, and City Light prunes only its first 10 ft. Most will disconnect it free so your crew can work.

Both states keep anyone who is not a qualified line-clearance tree trimmer at least 10 ft from lines energized up to 50 kV: OAR 437-002-0306 in Oregon, WAC 296-24-960(6) in Washington. The utility or a line-clearance contractor takes the part inside that zone; a tree trimming crew takes the rest. See tree removal near power lines for sequencing and emergency tree service for a tree already down on a wire.

The utility pages

• Portland General Electric tree trimming: Portland metro and northern Willamette Valley; 10 ft around primaries, 2–3 year cycle, Tree Hotline 503-736-5460.
• Pacific Power tree trimming: Medford, Bend, Roseburg, Albany, Yakima, Walla Walla and more; free service-line disconnect.
• EWEB tree trimming: Eugene; pole-to-pole lines only, telecom space cleared from May 4, 2026, requests at 541-685-7148.
• Puget Sound Energy tree trimming: Kitsap, Skagit, Thurston, Whatcom and parts of four more counties; does not trim service lines.
• Seattle City Light tree trimming: Seattle and neighboring suburbs; 10 or 14 ft from distribution lines, 4.5-year cycle, first 10 ft of the service line only.
• Tacoma Power tree trimming: Tacoma, Fircrest, University Place, Fife; clearances by voltage, 4-year cycle.
• Snohomish County PUD tree trimming: Snohomish County and Camano Island; primary lines only, requests at 425-783-5579.
• Clark Public Utilities tree trimming: Clark County; trees within 10 ft of overhead lines cleared at no charge, free service-line drop.
• Cowlitz PUD tree trimming: Cowlitz County, including Longview and Kelso; 10 ft, 3-year cycle, courtesy disconnect for the service wire.
• Chelan County PUD tree trimming: Chelan County and parts of Okanogan and Kittitas; 2–4 year cycle, free disconnect for the secondary line.
• Grant County PUD tree trimming: Moses Lake, Ephrata, Quincy and the rest of Grant PUD’s area; 12 ft clearance, no cost, no prior notice.
• Avista tree trimming: Spokane region; 10 ft clearance, 5-year cycle, one number for everything, (800) 227-9187.

Not covered yet: Salem Electric, the Benton and Franklin PUDs and the rural co-ops; each posts a request number on its own tree page. State rules are on the Washington and Oregon hubs.