At BGE we have always been concerned with the safety and effectiveness of private contractors working near overhead electric lines in our service territory. With that, we are committed to providing the appropriate support and services needed to ensure safe working environments for the contractors and prevent service interruptions to our customers.

When working in proximity to overhead lines, please observe the following guidelines:

• For all tree-related assistance that is unrelated to house loops*, please submit your request to BGE's Forestry Unit using our online form.
• Appropriately mark the trees before BGE arrives. For example, we suggest you paint the trees that will be removed and flag (use flagging, ribbons, etc.) the trees that will only be trimmed.
• If possible, identify tree species.
• Provide a full and accurate address including house number, street address, county and specific location of the tree(s). For example: left of driveway; right corner; near shed in back yard; behind house; etc. Also, provide all contact numbers (office, mobile, and pager).
• Once a BGE Forester is contacted, it will normally take between two to four weeks for the work to be completed. (One to two weeks to assess the situation and an additional one to two weeks to schedule and/or perform the work.)
• Planned outages occur a minimum of two weeks after the Forester's inspection and once you have discussed dates and outage duration with the Forester.
• As a courtesy, BGE will notify affected customers by mail of the temporary disruption of service. BGE's outage schedulers require a two week minimum to allow time for the mailing and receipt of customer responses.
• If the temperature rises above 90 degrees or falls below 32 degrees, the outage will be canceled and will have to be rescheduled. The rescheduled outage is subject to the PSC requirements listed above. The mailing will be repeated; therefore, allow for another two weeks.
• A list of canceled Planned Electrical Outages is available. You must have the outage number provided by the Forester who scheduled your outage.
• In all cases, if BGE trims to provide necessary clearance, the debris will be left on-site for you to remove when you finish the job.

*House Loops are the wires directly connected from the poles to the houses. If assistance is needed for house loops, please call BGE at 410-685-0123 at least 4 days in advance.