The mayor of Grapevine is asking Oncor for a list of where it plans to prune trees at the beginning of each calendar year.
Grapevine residents inundated the mayor's office this year with complaints about the work done by tree cutters hired by the company.
"People felt helpless," Mayor William Tate said. "We've had people pull guns on people. We've had people that have told these tree cutters, 'You can't come on my property.' I mean, it's got out of hand."
Oncor Electric Delivery Company requires a 10-foot-4-inch radius away from power lines.
"We know that it's not something that our consumers like to see, but it's something that we have to do to deliver reliable electricity," said Oncor spokeswoman Jaemy Molina.
But Tate said the trimming in his city did "great aesthetic damage and damage to the environment, and it seems unreasonable."
He has asked Oncor to provide North Texas cities with far more notice than the company's usual five days.
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"We've asked, and I think they have agreed -- Oncor has agreed -- to give us at the first of each year (a list of) what cities they're going to be trimming trees in and where," Tate said. "That gives us plenty of lead time."
But Molina said that kind of advance notice isn't in the cards.
"A year -- that's a lot of time, and that's something that really can't happen," she said.
The company said it is considering asking cities to prohibit the planting of trees near power lines.
Tate said Grapevine residents complained the trimming turned trees into eyesores.
"They feel violated, and that's not good for that type of emotion to be running through your community," he said.
Oncor is offering a toll-free number to people who get notices about upcoming tree trimming.
"What we've changed is, inside there's going to be a 1-800 number that they can call and reach on Oncor call center," Molina said. "They are going to talk to someone as quickly as they call that number."
Homeowners can choose at their own expense to have their electrical wires put underground.
According to its Web site, Oncor hires outside tree companies to do its trimming. State law prohibits the trimming of trees closer than 10 feet to high-voltage power lines by anyone not authorized by the wire company.
