If a Tree or Limb needs Trimming

Trees in the power lines can be dangerous, please do not try to remove these limbs yourself.Cherry Picker Performing Maintenance on Power Lines

  • Anoka Municipal Utility (AMU) has a regular rotation of tree-trimming around the city so they do not have to go from one side of town to the other and back again. This free service includes free clean-up as we make our way around the AMU service area.
  • Special requests for trimming and cutting the needed trees and branches in the power lines (excluding cable or phone lines) outside of the regular rotation is also a free service, but  the residence will be responsible for the clean-up. Requests will be reviewed and prioritized based on necessity and urgency, and may result in no action.

Regular Rotation Tree-Trimming Map

Check out which quadrant you are located in to determine the goal year your trees by the power lines will be trimmed.

Quadrants of AMU Service Area:

  • Quadrant #1: Border follows Main Street and the Mississippi River within the AMU service area. Trimmed in year 2020.
  • Quadrant #2: Border follows the Rum River and Main Street within the AMU service area. Trimmed in year 2021.
  • Quadrant #3: Border follows the Mississippi River and stays within the AMU service area. Trimmed in year 2022.
  • Quadrant #4: Border follows Highway 10 and stays within the AMU service area. Trimmed in year 2023.
  • Quadrant #5: Border follows Mississippi River, Rum River, and Highway 10 within the AMU service area. Trimmed in year 2024.

Tree Trimming Regular Rotation Map for years 2020 to 2024

Priority of Tree Trimmings

  • Due to high volumes of tree trimming requests, we will come out to prioritize the urgency of action. You do not need to be home for this.
  • If your situation is not high priority and you do not want to wait, you can hire a  licensed tree specialist who handles trees in power lines at your own cost.  Check out the City of Anoka’s Tree Care Licenses web page for a list of Licensed Tree Care Specialists around our area.
  • AMU has a contractor that trims our lines out on a regular rotation, and we strive to keep them on route so that they can more efficiently keep the public and our system safe.

Tree Trimming Techniques

Trees are trimmed according to national guidelines.  V-trimming and Side-trimming are the most commonly used techniques and are what you can expect to see after the tree has been trimmed.

Distribution lines run through the center of the tree from the utility pole.Tree trimmed into the shape of a letter V so no lines touch the tree or branches.






Tree is trimmed into the shape of the letter L, so no lines touch the tree or branches on that side.Distribution lines run through the side of the tree branches from the utility pole.



Report It

Use our Report Tree/Branches on or Near the Power lines form to let us know of your situation.

  • In order to serve our customers better, and to keep operating costs low, we request that you attach a picture of the area that is a concern in the reporting form. 
  • Clean-up will be the residents responsibility if not part of regular rotation trimming. 
  • Not attaching a file will result in a delayed response, however it will still be addressed and prioritized as needed.
  • Approximately 75% of tree trimming requests require no action from AMU because the tree in question is not interfering with our power lines, so attaching a picture helps to eliminate unnecessary trips and more quickly address others.  Overall, this keeps our rates low and helps us to serve you safely, efficiently and reliably - so thank you!

Thank you for helping us to be #CommunityPowered by letting us know of situations we may not be aware of.  As a community owned utility, it takes all of the community to keep our city bright!