I'm in South Texas (not Houston though) and same - I had trees growing into the power lines in my alley. I put in a request to trim them and was basically told

I'm in South Texas (not Houston though) and same - I had trees growing into the power lines in my alley. I put in a request to trim them and was basically told nicely to pound sand (I think they said something like they might get around to it in six to twelve months). I ended up paying a trimmer to take care of it, but I don't imagine that everyone in my (lower-income) neighborhood can afford that.