Why the utility comes first
A tree touching a line can carry current down the trunk and into wet ground around it. Nothing about the wire tells you whether it is live, and a line that went dark can be switched back on during restoration. OSHA’s card for tree work starts from the same place: assume every power line is energized, contact the utility about de-energizing it, and leave any work within ten feet of a line to trained line-clearance trimmers. An ordinary tree crew is not that.
So the first call is to whoever delivers your electricity:
| Your bill comes from | Call |
|---|---|
| Georgia Power | 1-888-891-0938 for an outage or a downed line, or 911 to have the line blocked off |
| An electric membership cooperative (Cobb EMC, Jackson EMC, Sawnee EMC, GreyStone Power, Walton EMC and others) | The outage number on your bill or the co-op’s site |
| A city system (Marietta, Acworth, Lawrenceville, Buford, Norcross, College Park, East Point, Fairburn) | The city’s utility number |
Each county page on this site lists the utilities that serve it, from the federal EIA-861 records.
Until the utility arrives
- Keep everyone, pets included, far back from the tree and the wire. Do not touch the tree, a fence it rests on, or a car under it.
- If a line is down on your car while you are in it, stay inside unless the car is on fire, and call 911.
- Do not pull limbs off a line or try to knock them down with a pole.
Your line or theirs
Two kinds of wire are involved here. The service drop is the single line from the pole to your house; the distribution lines run pole to pole along the street. Who clears a tree from each, how far the utility cuts, and whether it leaves the wood behind differ between Georgia Power, the co-ops and the city systems. Ask when you report the line, and photograph what the utility crew leaves.
Where the tree crew fits
Once the line is safe, or for a tree that is near but not on a line, a tree service can take the tree down, clear what the utility left and haul it away. Say on the call that a line is involved and whether the utility has been out; it changes the equipment and the people who come. The International Society of Arboriculture also recommends that trees planted or kept near lines be pruned by professionals, never by homeowners, which is the same work one step earlier.
Checked against the sources below on 2026-10-11.