Trees and power lines
Who handles which wire, and how close anyone can get.
Where a tree grows near overhead wires, who deals with a limb depends on which wire it's touching, and state law sets a distance nobody without the right arrangements should cross.
What Entergy trims, and what it doesn't
- Primary lines (pole to pole): Entergy routinely maintains the vegetation along them, and places an automated call to the number on your account, usually within a few weeks, before trimming in your area. You don't need to be home.
- Service lines (pole to home) and security lights: not trimmed by Entergy. They're the customer's responsibility, and Entergy suggests hiring a professional tree contractor. Ask, and Entergy will temporarily disconnect your service at no charge so the contractor can work.
- Cable and phone lines: Entergy doesn't trim around them; call the cable or phone company.
How the utility cuts
A 2017 Entergy Arkansas release says overhead lines are trimmed on average about every five years, varying by area, and that it invests about $30 million a year in vegetation management. Limbs are cut back to the next limb or to the trunk so they're less likely to regrow toward the line, and only limbs affecting the lines are removed, so a tree may be left trimmed on one side, at the top or through the middle. If the result leaves a tree you no longer want, removing it is a job for your own tree contractor.
The 10-foot rule
Arkansas Code § 11-5-308 bars work that brings a person or any tools, machinery or equipment within 10 feet of an energized overhead line, except where the line has been guarded with barriers or de-energized and grounded. Section 11-5-307 requires anyone planning closer work to give written notice to the line's owner or operator and make arrangements with it before starting.
A limb lying on a line, or a tree leaning into one, is not a homeowner job. Stay back and call the utility or a contractor who can arrange a disconnect.
Planting under wires
The same release asks customers not to plant trees under or near power lines, and singles out fast-growing, brittle trees such as Bradford pears. Planting a tree also means a call to Arkansas 811 first, since it disturbs the ground.
Brush near wires
If the city's CAPS truck is picking up the limbs, it needs 20 feet of overhead clearance, so pile brush away from low wires and branches.
Where these facts come from
- Entergy Arkansas: Tree trimming, what we trim and what we do not trim
- Entergy: Entergy Arkansas Trimming Trees to Enhance Reliability (news release, June 22, 2017)
- Arkansas Code § 11-5-308 (2025): Prohibited acts (work near overhead lines), via Justia
- Arkansas Code § 11-5-307 (2025): Notification, via Justia
- Arkansas 811: FAQ
- City of Hot Springs: Clean, Attractive Property Service (CAPS)
Checked October 27, 2026. Ordinances, fees and phone numbers get updated; confirm with the source before you act on it.
Common questions
Will Entergy remove a tree on my service line?
No. Entergy says it doesn't trim or remove trees threatening service lines from the pole to the home; those are the customer's responsibility. It will disconnect the service free while a contractor works.
How close can I work to a power line?
Arkansas law keeps people and equipment at least 10 feet from an energized overhead line unless it's guarded or de-energized and grounded.
Have it looked at
Phone the number or send the form; a Garland County tree contractor will follow up to see the job and price it. There's no charge for asking.
After hours? The line takes a message. Say where the tree is, roughly how big, and what it's near.