Avista tree trimming near power lines

Where Avista trims

Avista Utilities provides electricity to about 418,000 customers across 30,000 square miles in four northwestern states, and its Washington territory centers on the Spokane region; its planting brochure points customers to the City of Spokane’s approved street-tree list. Avista’s pages do not list the Washington counties it serves (not stated), so go by the name on your electric bill. Inland Power & Light, also based in Spokane, is a separate co-op with its own program, and Pacific Power serves Yakima and Walla Walla; the utilities index sorts out which is which.

What Avista trims and how often

Avista prunes vegetation around its transmission and distribution lines and addresses any tree encroaching on a 10 ft clearance of those lines. The program runs on a five-year trim cycle, and Avista notes that some fast-growing trees get revisited sooner. It does not trim around telecommunications, cable TV or telephone equipment on its poles, and it does not prune around the service wire.

Routine pruning is done at no cost to you. Trimmed branches are chipped on site and left for the property owner; where Avista removes a risk tree, the wood is left as it falls, with no clean-up, and you may keep it. Avista also runs a Safe Tree program: it assesses trees for removal and replacement, its tree contractor does the removal if you agree, and you can choose low-growing replacements. Only the landowner can apply, and Avista says it will make contact within six weeks for eligible properties.

Clearance distance

The published figure is a 10 ft clearance of Avista’s distribution and transmission lines. Avista does not break that down by voltage or by species growth rate (not stated).

The service wire to your house

Avista’s statement leaves no room for doubt: it does not prune vegetation around the service wire that runs from a nearby pole to a home or business, and maintaining and pruning vegetation that has grown into or is encroaching on that wire is the homeowner’s responsibility. The pruning, the crew and the haul-away are yours.

What Avista will do, at no charge, is disconnect the service drop so the work can be done safely. Service drops are available Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., and you need to call (800) 227-9187 at least three business days ahead. Book the drop first, then the crew; our tree removal near power lines page covers how that job is sequenced.

How to request trimming

Avista uses one number for everything: (800) 227-9187 for tree requests, service-drop scheduling, outages and downed lines. Avista does not publish a response-time target for routine requests (not stated). Trees that are not near a line are ordinary tree trimming; the tree trimming cost page has modeled Washington ranges, including the Spokane labor index.

A tree touching a line right now

Treat the tree and the ground around it as energized. Keep people and pets back, do not let anyone cut, pull or push it, and call (800) 227-9187. If the wire is on the ground, on a vehicle, or there is fire or an injury, call 911 first. Avista’s page does not give a stay-back distance (not stated); Washington utilities that do say 30 ft, and that is a reasonable floor.

A crew can start only after Avista has de-energized or cleared the line. What happens after that, including a tree on the house, is on our emergency tree service page.

Who may work within 10 ft of a line

A Spokane Valley or Pullman tree service can take down everything outside that zone; the part inside it waits for Avista or a line-clearance contractor. Check the company’s L&I registration first with our Washington tree service license lookup guide.

Planting under Avista lines

Avista’s Right Tree Right Place brochure uses three zones. In the small-tree zone under lines, plant trees and shrubs that stay under 25 ft; Avista’s examples are flowering dogwoods (pagoda, kousa and Cornelian cherry), crab apples and redbuds, with a longer power-line-compatible list in a separate PDF. In the medium zone, up to 50 ft from a pole or line, mature trees should stay under 40 ft; anything taller at maturity belongs at least 50 ft away. Keep 10 ft clear in front of a pad-mounted transformer and 2 ft on the sides and back.