MATTHEWS, N.C. — Several neighbors in the Matthews area have reached out to Channel 9 saying that Duke Energy left yard waste on their properties after trimming trees and branches away from power lines.
On Olivia Carter’s property, there were large tree logs sitting in her yard, and she tells Channel 9′s Evan Donovan that Duke didn’t clean it up, despite several requests.
“This happened probably early, middle part of January,” Carter said. “They were cutting some trees down away from the power line, and I’m thinking, ‘Oh, this is a good thing,’ but they did not clean up their mess. It surprised me because they left this mess here, they just cut down branches and stacked it up behind this fence.”
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Carter says she called to complain about the issue several times.
“They said if it wasn’t on my property line, that they weren’t required to clean it up,” Carter said. “The power line is right here but my property line is still close to the power lines.”
Channel 9 reached out to Duke Energy, and the company said it’s looking into the complaints.
Carter isn’t the only one having this problem -- when she posted her issue on Nextdoor, she got similar responses. Someone in the South Park area even shared photos, complaining of the same issue -- but that homeowner said a company eventually came out to remove the yard waste.
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When Carter’s home from her job as a flight attendant, she says she and her mom like to sit in the backyard -- when it’s clean, anyway.
“It’s an eyesore,” Carter said. “So I’m like, do I have to hire someone to come out and clean up all this mess here?”
UPDATE: After our story aired on Wednesday, crews were seen at Carter’s home Thursday morning cleaning up the large logs that were left behind.
Duke Energy’s website says, “Debris that cannot be hauled away (i.e., too large, metal embedded in wood, etc.) is cut to the length of firewood and stacked or consolidated at the edge of the right of way or at the base of the tree for the property owner’s use or disposal.”
If you have waste left in your yard following maintenance by Duke Energy, click this link to contact the company.
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