Review of the Electricity (Hazards from Trees) Regulations 2003

June 2026 amendments to protect New Zealand’s energy infrastructure

In June 2026 the Minister for Energy announced further amendments to the Electricity (Hazards from Trees) Regulations 2003. These amendments will lower the risk to power lines from trees outside the immediate Growth Limit Zone (GLZ). The updated Regulations commence 23 July 2026 with appropriate transitional periods.

Read the Minister’s announcement:

Stronger rules to protect power lines from trees(external link) – Beehive.govt.nz

MBIE has prepared a guidance document, summarising the key June 2026 updates:

The substantive changes will:

• Enable lines owners to assess the likelihood and potential impact of a tree falling onto an adjacent line, then issue a Treefall Hazard Notice for moderate and high-risk trees.
• Restrict the planting of new trees on land that is not already forested or part of a shelterbelt, outside of urban areas.

Assessment of risks from existing trees

The amended Regulations will allow lines owners to carry out assessments on trees within 24 metres either side of the GLZ, through a qualified arborist.

The risk assessment process will assess the likelihood and impact of treefall to establish a treefall hazard risk:

• Low risk – no further action.
• Moderate risk – the tree owner must remove the tree at the lines owner’s cost, within 45 working days of receiving a notice.
• High risk – the tree owner must remove the tree at the lines owner’s cost, within 25 working days of receiving a notice.

The lines owner and tree owner may agree an alternative timeframe within 25 days of receiving the notice or negotiate another outcome entirely by mutual agreement (for example, selectively trimming branches).

The following risk assessment table will be used to assess the likelihood and impact of treefall:

Risk assessment table

Lines owners identify risky trees, land owners then remove such trees, at the lines owner’s cost.

Tree owners will lose the tree (and so the mature value of the tree). However, the direct costs of tree removal (including the debris) will be at the lines owner’s cost.

For all trees, land owners are responsible for trimming trees to stay outside the GLZ and covering that trim cost (this is no change from the existing procedure).

To allow sufficient time for lines owners to assess their networks, this change will have a 2-year transitional period meaning lines owners may begin issuing notices from 23 July 2028.

New Low Height Planting Zone will reduce risk posed by new trees

The Government is restricting new planting around non-urban lines to alleviate future treefall risks. Under this restriction, impacted landowners may only plant trees that are expected to have a mature height that is lower than their distance from the line. The restriction will apply:

• 24 metres either side of the line
• only in non-urban areas
• on land that has no existing forest or is part of a shelter belt.

This restriction is aimed at stopping additional planting within the immediate fall distance around electricity lines while limiting the impacts on forest owners by excluding forest land (including cutover land) from the restriction.

This is expected to bolster security of supply in the long-term while limiting what landowners can do next to lines.

The restriction is intended to secure the property rights of lines owners while limiting the impact on affected landowners, who will lose some flexibility around what they can do with land next to the lines.

This change will have a 1-year transitional period and will need to be complied with from 23 July 2027.

Additional minor updates made in June 2026

From 23 July 2026 publication requirements for lines owners are also being updated to require annual publications to take place on an appropriate internet site rather than in newspapers or in written notices.

These amendments also extend the “clear to the sky” growth limit zones to all non-urban lines (including 11kV and below). This change will align with existing transitional periods and must be complied with from 17 October 2026.

The Amendment Regulations can be read in full here: Electricity (Hazards from Trees) Amendment Regulations 2026(external link) – New Zealand Legislation

Amendments enacted in October 2024

These changes include extending the GLZ around trees to be “clear to the sky” and the zone in which lines owners can serve a Notice to a landowner by 1 metre. The amendments came into force on 17 October 2024.

The Minister's press release, gazette notice, discussion document, as well as the summary of submissions can be found below.

New measures to protect powerlines from trees(external link) — Beehive.govt.nz

Notice Under the Legislation Act 2019(external link)  — New Zealand Gazette