Review of the Electricity (Hazards from Trees) Regulations 2003

Upcoming amendments to protect New Zealand’s energy infrastructure

On 29 April 2025 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). These amendments are expected in late 2025.

Read the Minister’s announcement:

Protecting New Zealand's energy infrastructure(external link) — Beehive.govt.nz

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 outside of urban areas.

Proposed assessment of risks from existing trees

The government has proposed that lines owners will be able to carry out assessments on trees 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 – no further action.
• Moderate – the tree owner must remove the tree, at the lines owner’s cost, within 45 working days of receiving a notice.
• High – 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).

Risk assessment table

Impacts to tree owners

Tree owners will lose the mature value of the tree, although the direct costs of removal (including the debris) will be at the lines owner’s cost. After a lines owner covers the cost of cutting or removing an existing risk tree or trees identified in the Treefall Hazard Notice, land owners are responsible for trimming trees to stay outside the GLZ and covering that trim cost (same as the existing procedure).

Proposed reduction of risk from new trees

The Government has proposed 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.

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.

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