Improve Your Property Both Beautifully & Safely
Your yard is your canvas to beautify your property and make it your own. But if you’re not aware of what’s going on beneath the surface or above your head, you could be walking into a potentially hazardous situation.
Trees and shrubs are attractive additions to your landscape, but can also create electrical hazards if you don’t pay attention to where you plant. Trees and shrubs located too close to overhead power lines or utility equipment can create spark, fire, outage, or shock hazards.
Did you know? The ground you walk, drive, and play on every day covers an incredible amount of buried utility lines. There’s more than one football field’s length of buried lines for every man, woman, and child in the United States. That means there are more than 20,000,000 miles of underground buried lines.
An underground utility line is damaged once every 6 minutes nationwide because someone decided to dig without first calling 811. Digging without knowing the approximate location of underground utility lines can result in damage to gas, electric, communications, water, and/or sewer lines, and can result in service disruptions, serious injuries, and costly repairs.
The information below will help you conduct your yard work and home improvement projects safely for you, your family, and your neighbors.
Know What’s Below. Call 811 Before Your Dig.
Notify your local one-call center by calling 811 or making an online request 2 to 3 days before work begins. View the 811 In Your State webpage about your local one-call center and online service availability. The one-call center will transmit information to affected utility operators.
Wait 2 to 3 days (varies by state; view state law information) for affected utility operators to respond to your request. On average, between 7 to 8 utility operators are notified for each request.
Confirm all affected utility operators have responded to your request by comparing the marks to the list of utilities the one-call center notified. State laws vary on the process for confirmation. Please check with your local one-call center for more information.
Respect the marks provided by affected utility operators. These marks are your guide for the duration of your project. If you are unable to maintain the marks during your project, or the project will continue past your request's expiration date, please call 811 to ask for a re-mark.
Dig carefully. If you can't avoid digging near the marks (within 18 to 24 inches on all sides, depending on state law), consider moving your project to another part of your yard. If you must dig near the marks or use machinery of any kind, please read The 811 Process for Contractors.
Safe Tree Planting
Tree trimming is a crucial activity for rural electrical cooperatives to ensure reliable service, maintain safety, and preserve the integrity of the electric grid. At Kay Electric Cooperative managing vegetation is essential to providing uninterrupted power to our members.
Trees and shrubs are attractive additions to your landscape, but can also cause electrical hazards if you don't pay attention to where you plant. Trees growing too close to power lines can cause sparks, fires, power outages and shock hazards. Trees and shrubs located too close to utility equipment can cause delays in power restoration and create safety hazards.
To avoid these problems, make sure to give trees and shrubs plenty of room to grow to full size without getting too close to utility equipment.
Safe Tree Planting Tips
- Consider the size of the tree when fully grown to be sure they won't interfere with power lines.
- Consider the location of overhead lines and underground equipment when choosing where you plant.
- Don't plant right next to transformers or your meter and keep these areas clear. This is for your safety and so crews can quickly access equipment when needed.
- Call 811 at least 3 days before you plant to have underground lines marked for safe digging.
