Electricity Networks Aotearoa represents all 29 lines companies that operate the poles and wires.
The group said the storm left more than 40,000 people in Northland and Auckland without power.
Chief executive Tracey Kai told RNZ that large trees that were currently out of bounds for them to proactively prune or cut have caused power outages, particularly during storms.
"We'd really like regulation to hold those people who own those trees, and they're generally larger tree owners, to take greater responsibility for both maintaining and also the cost of that vegetation management."
She said the lines company was not particularly worried about "mum and dad" tree owners, but rather farmers or forestry owners.
"It's about maintaining them and people taking that responsibility to do that, not the lines companies."
Kai said lines companies spent more than $67 million in 2024 managing trees, which included pruning and felling trees that obstructed power lines.
"That's money added to people's power bills."
She said the companies wanted proactively to stop trees falling on power lines.
Electricity Networks Aotearoa said the government updating the tree regulations would be a practical step to improving infrastructure and enabling effective service delivery across New Zealand.
