Right Way

A power line right-of-way is a strip of land that an electric utility uses to construct, maintain, repair or replace power lines.

Why is it important to keep the right of way clear?

Your safety and the safety of our lineworkers is our top priority. Hunting stands, buildings, grain bins and other obstructions within a power line right-of-way can pose a serious danger to the public and our line crews.

Electricity is ALWAYS looking for a path to ground. Any object that comes in contact with a power line or comes close to a power line can create a path to ground and become energized and, therefore, deadly.

Right-of-ways are established to ensure the public remains a safe distance from power lines and to allow utility workers to safely access the lines as needed for maintenance or repairs. If you have any questions or would like additional information, please contact your local electric cooperative.

Surge Protection

Blinking Lights, etc.

Anything that comes into contact with any part of the distribution system that delivers electricity to your meter can reduce the quality of power you receive. Tree limbs, small animals and miscellaneous foreign objects are the most common causes of those irritating blinking lights and reset clocks.

Tri-County Electric Cooperative works constantly to control as many of these factors as is physically possible. Our linemen conduct routine overhead line inspections to detect wind and weather damage.

Small animals such as squirrels and even birds can ground out areas of the system causing brief interruptions of power.

If you need to have a power line inspected for foliage intrusion, simply contact us during work hours at (660) 457-3733 or toll-free at (888) 457-3734 and ask for our Line Superintendent.

Tree trimming

Tri-County Electric Cooperative provides the highest quality of electric service to its members. In order to achieve this quality, we occasionally must trim trees within the Right-Of-Way. Trees native to Missouri commonly produce as much as 72" (six feet) of re-growth annually, making them one of our leading causes of reduced power quality and outage. An aggressive, territory-wide Right-of-Way Maintenance and Tree Trimming Program is instituted to address this problem.

In an effort to provide open avenues of communication, the cooperative will make every effort to contact property owners prior to right-of-way maintenance activities. The cooperative will maintain rights-of-way at least 15 feet from the center of the power line on both sides.

For more information, contact the Operations Department. We constantly strive to provide you with the highest level of service. If you have questions about our tree trimming activities give us a call toll-free at (888) 457-3734.