Ingress and Egress literally means coming and going. A utility easement generally permits the utility to use the property to run their lines, underground or overhead. If your easement is literally an ingress/egress easement in favor of the utility, it is possibly limited only to permitting the utility to cross your land to reach their property or actual easement. An easement like this most frequently grants the "dominant tenement" the right to cross the land of the "servient tenement" unimpeded. You would have to read the terms of the easement to know exactly what that means. Perhaps you are allowed to have a gate across the passage, perhaps not. If you planted something in the way, that by itself would likely be a violation of the easement and if they damaged whatever that was, they would not be required to repair or replace it. In fact, often times utilities will keep such areas clear cut so they can have easy, unimpeded access.
Titles on documents are sometimes not completely descriptive of the rights and powers actually granted by the document, so to properly answer this question I or any other attorney would have to read the document to be sure and be able to advise you properly. For a complete answer, please contact an Ohio real estate attorney.
Answered on Mar 14th, 2013 at 4:50 PM