A row of trees on privately owned land along Ladies Mile was to be chopped down earlier this year, because they were growing dangerously close to power lines and the owner could not afford to maintain them.
They were saved from the chop, however, after a public outcry and lines maintenance contractor Delta agreed to a one-off trim, done in April.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council has suggested ratepayers stump up half the $1million cost to put the power lines underground.
But in its submission to the council's annual plan this week, electricity infrastructure company Aurora said there was no basis for it to pay half.
It also wanted the entire proposal removed from the annual plan, while it discussed with the council the feasibility and alternatives to putting the power lines underground.
"There is not funding available for undergrounding this section,'' the submission said.
"As set out in Aurora Energy's 10-year asset management plan, capital expenditure is fully allocated to projects that cater for reliability of power supply and growth.''
Aurora, which is owned by the Dunedin City Council - as is Delta - reiterated the maintenance of trees, to keep them a safe distance from power lines, is the responsibility of owners.
It also said the "best available evidence'' was that the original lines were installed in 1962, before the trees were planted in about 1966.
The company suggested the council spend $9000 a year trimming the trees or plant a new row of lower-growing trees and remove the existing ones.
Another suggestion was the council pays the entire cost of putting the power lines underground, but it warned potential costs could exceed $1 million.
The Save the Ladies Mile Trees committee also made a submission to the council's plan.
Spokeswoman Maggie Hillock said any suggestion the trees were planted after the lines was "completely incorrect'' and the group had an affidavit to that from the original landowners.
She believed it would be an opportunity lost if Aurora did not contribute to the undergrounding of the lines.
"They used to have a historic 50-50 agreement to underground powerlines in the town and it would be nice if that was resurrected, but, in this particular instance it would be a shame if Aurora didn't take an opportunity like this.''
