by Matthew Brady

When Indianapolis Power & Light told Sacha Brady in February it was going to cut down 12 trees — many of them 70 years old — in the backyard of her Aspen Ridge neighborhood home near Eagle Creek, the Angie's List member wasted no time fighting back.

She dashed off a letter to IPL CEO Ann Murtlow, and took two days off work to investigate her options. Her diligence paid off.

At Brady's insistence, IPL re-measured and found that her trees and those of her neighbors did not fall within the utility company's 50-foot easement after all.

"Had I not dug my feet in the ground and said, 'How dare you trod on my constitutional rights,' I would've lost my trees," she says.

Other homeowners say they have not been as fortunate, claiming IPL has removed or fatally trimmed their trees without regard to proper methods.

In 2005, Charles Goodman of Indianapolis says IPL removed half a tree in his yard despite assuring him they wouldn't. Now retired, Goodman formed the Indiana Tree Alliance and donates his time lobbying legislators and gathering evidence.

"No one has ever been against trimming trees," he says. "We are simply saying, 'Be reasonable.'"

The issue is expected to come to a head this fall when the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission releases the results of its statewide investigation into public utility tree-trimming practices. Hearings and fact-finding ended in June and the commission could release a ruling at any time.

The commission suspended IPL's right in December to enter private property to trim or remove any tree it deems a threat to power lines — a provision in the company's charter that is unique among state utilities. Since Brady's case occurred after the suspension, IPL was limited to the 50-foot easement it bought in 1960.

IPL spokeswoman Crystal Livers-Powers issued a statement and declined to answer questions.

"Utilities have an obligation to provide reliable service and tree trimming is part of meeting that obligation," she says. "Specific tree-trimming circumstances are handled on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the utility's tariff."

In filings to the commission, IPL asserts that if the commission permanently removes its right to trim or remove trees on private property, it would cost $100 million to buy easements, a cost it says would be passed on to customers.

Duke Energy, which services Marion and Hamilton counties, says it limits its tree trimming to utility easements.

"If private property is involved, we generally will not work on customers' property without their permission," says spokeswoman Angeline Protogere. "An exception might be if we can't reach a property owner and we need to access their property in order to restore power in the area."

In defense of utility companies, an industry spokesman says they are charged by federal and state law to provide safe, reliable electricity.

"Companies are a bit between a rock and a hard place on this one," says Ed Simcox, president of the Indiana Energy Association, a trade group representing 14 investor-owned gas and electric utilities, including IPL. "In recent years, the threats of brownouts and blackouts and loss of power through storms has heightened to where regulators — principally federal regulators — have imposed on utilities the need to do a more rigorous job of maintaining lines."

The issue is affecting utilities nationwide, he says.

Phil Ping, owner of highly rated Ping's Tree Service in Indianapolis, says he takes issue with every aspect of IPL's tree trimming.

"Hitler's Gestapo troops had nothing on these guys," he says. "They come on people's property and they are like fascists. The utility company owns the planet and property owners have no rights. That's exactly their attitude."

IPL's website asserts that it follows American National Standards Institute (ANSI) A300 standards, published by the Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA). Ping disputes that claim.

"They trim a silver maple the same way they trim an oak tree," he says of IPL. "They absolutely don't have the same growth pattern."

Ping says ANSI dictates no cuts more than one-third the size of the parent stem.

"They'll cut off one side of the tree," he says. "That's 50 percent of the size of the parent stem."

Such cuts unbalance the tree and make it prone to fall over in strong winds.

"It won't fall on their line," he says. "It will fall on the garage."

There is one ANSI standard, but separate "best management practices" on how to implement ANSI: one for commercial arborists, another for utility arborists, says Derek Vannice, executive director of the Utility Arborist Association, an industry group that helps put together the practices.

"You just have a different objective when you are clearing power lines," Vannice says. "It may not be aesthetically pleasing but you are preserving the tree as best as possible."

Also, trimming all the branches on the power-line side of a tree doesn't necessarily destabilize the tree, he says. "What causes a tree to fail is the root system," he says.

Ping also sits on the Indianapolis Tree Board, a mayor-appointed body charged with increasing the city's tree canopy. It has no authority, however, over utility companies. He alleges IPL tries to save money by severely cutting trees so they don't have to trim as often. While IPL's policy calls for a three-year trim cycle, Ping says he's seen cuts that are more like "15-year" cuts.

"They've implemented a lot of tree trimming at the cost of our canopy," he says. "IPL is thinking green, but they all got dead presidents on them."

Angie's List member Kathie Church fought back when IPL wanted to cut her 200-year-old trees in the Allisonville area.

"I have an oak tree; it grows a maximum of 6 inches a year. It is 3 feet from the lines," she says. "[IPL] continually wants to cut it back to the trunk. There is no reason to cut 8 feet back to the trunk. I've won every argument."