Snohomish County PUD tree trimming near power lines

Where the PUD trims

Snohomish County PUD is the electric utility for Snohomish County and Camano Island, serving about 380,000 homes and businesses in a territory of 881,000 residents. That takes in Everett, Lynnwood, Edmonds, Marysville, Monroe and the rest of the county; Marysville’s own hazard-tree handout sends trees near power lines to the PUD. King County addresses to the south are PSE or Seattle City Light; the utilities index sorts out which.

What the PUD trims and how often

The PUD maintains vegetation along its primary power lines. Before any planned work it dispatches an ISA Certified Arborist to evaluate the lines and decide what needs pruning or removal, then notifies landowners by door hanger, mail, phone, email or postcard before crews arrive. Emergencies skip the notice.

The PUD’s page does not publish a trim cycle in years, a cost statement, or a wood-removal policy (not stated). The sheet it does publish is a pre-qualified contractor list: six tree-trimming companies that trim for the PUD and that the PUD says carry licenses, bonds and insurance, updated annually. You may hire from it for your own trees or use any other crew.

Clearance distance

The PUD does not publish a working clearance in feet for its distribution lines (not stated). The one distance on its page is a safety line, not a pruning target: tree work within 10 ft of a primary conductor needs to be done by a qualified electrical worker. Its tree booklet gives the planting-side numbers below.

The service line to your house

The PUD’s wording is direct: it does not maintain vegetation around service lines or standalone communication lines. A limb resting on the drop to your house, a laurel grown up through it, or a tree you want removed beside it is your project and your cost. The page does not describe a temporary disconnect program for private work near the service line (not stated); call 425-783-5579 and ask before any crew goes near it.

A crew that works near drops regularly will know to ask the PUD about de-energizing or dropping the line first. Our tree removal near power lines page covers how that job is sequenced and what to ask a crew.

How to request trimming

For a tree in or near a PUD primary line, call 425-783-5579, Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., or email trees@snopud.com. The PUD does not publish a response-time target (not stated). Trees that are nowhere near a line are ordinary tree trimming; the tree trimming cost page has modeled Washington ranges.

A tree touching a line right now

Treat the tree and everything touching it as energized. The PUD’s rule for a fallen line is to stay at least 30 ft away and call 425-783-1001 with the location; if the situation is life-threatening, such as a line on top of an occupied car, call 911. A tree leaning in a line and sparking belongs in the same category. Do not let anyone cut, pull or push it.

A crew can start only after the PUD has de-energized or cleared the line. What comes next, including a tree down on the house, is on our emergency tree service page.

Who may work within 10 ft of a line

So an Everett or Marysville tree service can take down everything outside that zone; the part inside it waits for the PUD or a line-clearance contractor. Check the company’s L&I registration first with our Washington tree service license lookup guide.

Planting under PUD lines

The PUD’s Tree Booklet says to plant shrubs or small trees that reach no more than 25 ft near power lines. Give a medium, spreading tree at least 25 ft from a walkway, or 10 ft if its mature form is columnar or pyramidal. Keep 3 ft clear on all sides of a pad-mounted transformer and 10 ft in front of the padlock side. Named examples include vine maple (15 ft), Amur maple (20 ft), crabapple (25 ft) and dwarf Japanese red pine (10 to 20 ft); the PUD also posts a separate Native Plant List.