Celina homeowners Phil and Kim Bush oppose removal of their century-old red oak trees for a power line project.
Some North Texas property owners are complaining after power provider, Oncor trimmed trees. Oncor said its doing the work to increase reliability and prevent outages in Celina, but some homeowners say the cutting went too far and with little notice.
NBC 5’s Alicia Barrera reports. A Celina couple says they felt they had few options over a holiday weekend when they learned their decades-old red oak trees could be removed as part of a power line project — so, they took a stand. Phil Bush parked his truck in front of the trees outside his home on Saturday, blocking Oncor and its subcontractors from accessing them. For Bush and his wife, the trees are more than landscaping.Bush said the couple initially expected routine maintenance after a green Oncor tag was placed on their door late last week. The notice advised of pruning in areas where “new power lines are scheduled to be constructed.” But Bush said a conversation at their door changed everything."We were expecting just regular pruning, but then the gentleman came to our door and said that the pruning they would have to do could possibly kill the tree. So, they were going to take the trees all the way down. And that was kind of a surprise, an emotional thing," Bush said. Over the phone, Oncor said Saturday’s visit was only an initial review. The utility said it deployed an arborist to speak with Bush on Monday and that it strives to communicate with property owners before proceeding with work.Texas Rangers investigating police chase that ended in officer involved shooting in Carrollton Kim Wickliffe, who owns a business in downtown Celina, said she has not yet spoken with an Oncor arborist about trees on her lot as requested and has instead hired an independent arborist to handle trimming. "There has to be a way to be partners, and to collaborate and to work together to not only preserve the trees, but have power as well," Wickliffe said.Oncor said it has increased efforts to manage tree growth in and around Celina to help improve reliability. The utility said it follows industry best practices, with arborists overseeing the work and provided the following statement: "Oncor recognizes the value of trees within our communities, and we work hard to balance that value with our commitment to providing safe and reliable electric service. We have increased vegetation management in and around Celina to help improve reliability, reduce severe-weather outages and ensure our crews can safely perform other critical system upgrades. Our vegetation management teams include professional, certified arborists who oversee this work to ensure it consistently follows industry best practices. In some situations, we may determine a hazardous tree must be removed. This may be due to the tree being directly beneath power lines or to help protect the safety of personnel working near energized lines. Oncor provides advance notice about planned vegetation management and strives to be available to discuss this work with impacted customers., in October 2025, Oncor completed comprehensive electric infrastructure inspections in the town of Celina, Texas, and identified improvement areas for delivering more reliable service. In February 2026, Oncor began a reliability improvement project that addresses inspection results, supports grid resiliency and service reliability in and around the city of Celina. Vegetation management and clearing right-of-way areas reduces the chances that branches contact lines during high wind or storm events, such as the recent Winter Storm Fern. Our teams take great care to prune trees and to evaluate potentially dead, diseased or hazardous trees that may require removal according to industry standards. Additionally, this vegetation management allows personnel and necessary equipment to safely access power lines before more extensive reliability work can begin. Customers are notified in advance of these efforts through the use of city leadership updates, individual door tags, and team members knocking on doors to connect with customers prior to notable removals."
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