It and the damage it causes when it goes over is 100% on you!
That is not the practice in most, if not all, of Connecticut regarding powerlines and roadways. As long as you're not acting recklessly, CL&P is not going to charge for it. It may not meet the strict letter of the law of what CL&P could charge (I don't know for sure), but if that's the law it's not their practice to do so. No town up in my area charges for clearing the debris.
Recklessly is when you pull up and see Harry Homeowner giving you a sheepish grin, and you see a chainsaw, a cut tree, and a cable leading to Peter Pickup's truck. Which the tree pulled like a toy wagon as it fell in the opposite direction and across the primaries. Still one of the funniest scenes I ever saw in 20 years with the fire company when I pulled up there!*
To give a practical example of how forgiving CL&P is, I had a sycamore that died and needed to be taken out by a crane due to it's precarious position and lean. While saving for that job, it snapped during a storm. Pulled the service wires off the poles along my driveway and out of the weatherhead.
It was located about 400' from the centerline of the road, and about 175' from the transformer -- I have a long driveway.
I called CL&P to disconnect the house service at the transformer figuring I would need to call an electrician in the morning to repair the damage to the service.
The linemen cleared the tree (had to borrow my chainsaw as theirs died
), re-strung the house service on the poles along the driveway, and re-connected the service. Have a nice night, no charge.
Had they come instead and found me grinning with a cut in the base of the tree, I could've expected a bill for being reckless.
CL&P, and the other utilities, will charge if you for motor vehicle accidents that take out their property. That can run into a pretty penny if it becomes one where you've bought a pole, a transformer, power co., phone co., and cable co. all on overtime plus a couple of state troopers on o/t directing traffic around the mess.
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* Typical procedure in my area:
Big tree across road: Fire company will chainsaw it to re-open the road to traffic, Highway Department will come by next business day with a chipper to clean up the remains.
Limb / Small Tree & wires: Power company will cut up the limb.
Large Tree & Wires: Power company will cut up just enough to restore power, and the Town Highway Department will cut up the rest of the tree. Usually the Fire Company will get there first, and let the dispatcher know it's big enough that CL&P will want Town Highway.