Clearance requirements for power equipment

Wood or metal power poles bring electricity from home to home. Power poles hold up lines for an above-ground electrical system. The poles support the power lines, transformers, switches, cable TV, and telephone lines that service your homes and businesses.

Power pole clearance requirements

Maintain clearance of 1 metre from the base of the pole and 3 metres from power lines.

Our crews need space to work around and climb the poles to do their job. Because the power poles are buried 6 to 10 feet below ground, crews may need to dig around the pole for inspections, repairs, and replacements. Installing landscaping like concrete, paving stones, or fences too close will delay their work.

Any trees on your yard must meet power line and utility pole clearance requirements. Avoid planting trees under power lines. If a tree or shrub is growing too close to a power line, contact an arborist. We will turn off the power so they can work safely. Please call our 24-hour power emergency line at 780-412-4500. Read more about tree trimming near power lines.

Overhead power lines can be dangerous because there is usually no protection on the wire. Electricity looks for the shortest path to the ground, so if a person gets too close to an overhead power line they can be its path to the ground.

To ensure your safety any structures (e.g. shed or garage), trees or shrubs need to be minimum 3 metres (plus room for potential swing and any line sag) away from the power lines themselves.

This clearance helps ensure your safety when doing maintenance on the structure (e.g. cleaning gutters or replacing the roof) or trimming trees.

If you are going to be building a garage or shed that might result in workers or equipment operating within 7 metres of an overhead power line, you must contact EPCOR at 780-412-4500.

A transformer is that grey or green power box in the yard. It will be near the front of the yard beside the sidewalk. Transformers change high voltage power into low voltage power for use in your home or business. One transformer will serve many buildings in the area.

Transformer clearance requirements

Maintain clearance of 3 metres on the front and 2 metres on all other sides of transformers.

Landscaping around a transformer box or planting around electrical boxes can cause a hazard for our crews. If they come to make a repair or to get the power back on, they'll have to remove landscaping and plants to do their job safely. Branches may swing into the transformers while crews are working. Tree and plant roots can damage underground cables.

In addition to the above ground clearance area, it's vital to never dig around a transformer. If you hit an underground line or grid, you can get shocked, causing severe injury or death. Please, always contact Utility Safety Partners to locate all underground utilities before you dig.

Switching cubicles look like transformers. They'll be a grey or green power box in the yard, next to the sidewalk. They help route power from neighbourhood to neighbourhood and help protect the rest of the power system using switches that turn off if there is a fault. Switching cubicles are usually the first place our crews go to restore power during an outage. A cubicle allows us to bypass electricity to the area we are working, making it safe to restore power.

Switching cubicle clearance requirements

Maintain clearance of 3 metres on all sides of switching cubicles.

A lot of electricity surges through switching cubicles. As with transformers, never dig or plant around switching cubicles on your property. When our crews are doing repairs or maintenance to a cubicle, they use long rods to operate the switches and the space must be free from trees, bushes, fences, or other landscaping. The faster we can get to work on the cubicle, the sooner we can get the power back on during an outage.