Power line easement

[Dave]

So on my new place there is a proposed power line going across the ranch. This is something like a 500 megawatt line. It goes from the area of the Columbia River dams to the Boise area. It will cross a mile of my property with 4 towers actually on my place. As with everything there are good and bad things. The good side is that there will be an access road into part of the ranch that is only accessible by foot or horseback. And they will have to pay for the easement. On the downside one of their access roads is mapped as going right by a spring which supplies water to the house. Now there is a road (quad trail) by that spring. But they plan to "improve" that road and how much extra traffic will go there. The other issue is improved access coming off the BLM land to the south. People can access the BLM land now but this is allow people more readily access to my property. So how much is an easement for a major power line worth?

 

[ga.prime]

S500 million dollars

 

[Caustic Burno]

S500 million dollars

He wanted to get the most not the least allowed by imminent domain.

 

[ga.prime]

S500 million dollars

He wanted to get the most not the least allowed by imminent domain.

Ha, you're right. I always undercharge regrettably. Never been overpaid in my entire life.

 

[Dave]

If they moved it 1/4 mile West it would be entirely on BLM. But that ground is a tad bit rugged. As in it is only accessible on foot or if you had a mountain goat broke to ride. There are two neighbors who have this line cross their property. The county people say that the neighbors are in agreement with this route. I have yet to meet those neighbors. But I do know that one is a lawyer who specializes in real estate. I will have to look at it but I am thinking that he will squeeze every drop he can out of them. I might just tell them to pay me the same as they pay him.

 

[Lucky]

I was told that in Texas they only have to pay 1/2 the appraised land value by law. The deal I just got into on an existing easement on my land had to do with how the easements were sold by the original land owners.

There is a natural gas line that runs 1 mile across me. It was setup in the 50's and apparently the land was split up by 3 owners back then (come to think of it I bought it from 3 different people). 2 easments were called "blanket" easements and 1 was a "defined" easement. The way it was described to me was that on the "blanket" easement they could work anywhere they pleased while replacing the line and on the "defined" easement they had to pay me for temporary work space outside of the 30' defined easement. Because of this they came in and cleared a 100' by 1 mile path across me but only had to pay for a 70' path maybe 1250' long. If I ever sell an easement it will definitely be a defined easement. At some point they will come back for repairs.

 

[Nesikep]

You just bought the place so you have a good idea what the land is worth.

We have one "blanket easement" on our place and we're working to get rid of it.. The easement was only for electric, not telephone, so telco had to move out onto the road easement, they put in tall posts so electric can move there at some point too, they're just taking their sweet time about it.. Once they're physically off the property, then we'll look into changing the terms

 

[ddd75]

boy.. thats some crappy news when you just bought that place..

4 towers is a lot on a property.. They'll only pay where the towers are probably.. I doubt they'll pay where the lines are overhead.

 

[Jogeephus]

I gave a power line easement to the Southern Company and was paid nearly twice the value of the land. They put up a brand new fence and new gates and only they (or their contractors) can use this land. They also have a program called Wings where they will pay me to keep and maintain wildlife food plots in the easement area. In all, I haven't had any problems with any of this.

As an added bonus, since the power line is a major distribution line, I have since been offered some pretty good money from companies wanting to install solar farms since you can get an extra $0.02 kwh if the solar farm is located next to a trunk line. I haven't pursued this just yet but having this easement has given me more options in the future.

 

[BRYANT]

boy.. thats some crappy news when you just bought that place..

4 towers is a lot on a property.. They'll only pay where the towers are probably.. I doubt they'll pay where the lines are overhead.

I have one on one of our places, its not and issue at all cattle can graze around the towers and they keep the land clean of brush

 

[Brute 23]

Its not worth it. They would have to pay enough for me to buy another place.

 

[Dave]

Think of this property as a rectangle that is 2 miles wide and 1 mile deep. The house is near the north edge and to the east of the middle. The power line is going in on the west edge. Well over a mile from the house. You can't see it from the house. It is a pretty rugged piece of property. From the house to the top of the hill behind the house is a mile in a straight line. The elevation at the house is about 2,600 feet. The top of the hill is about 4,500 feet. Almost 2,000 feet elevation in a mile. My issue is not the placement of the power line. It is there idea of access that goes right beside the spring which is the only water source to the house. Heavy driving within 20 feet of that spring is just not a good idea.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

Make sure you get paid enough to drill you a well and forget the spring. Problem solved. Unless this springs are less problematic on that side of the country than this side, I would try to ditch the spring ASAP anyway.

 

[Dave]

The water from the spring is good water. The places down the valley all have wells and they all have nasty sulfur water. The spring box and pipeline are all buried underground and feed into a concrete holding tank. The tank is just up hill from the irrigation canal. There is an over flow pipe that dumps into the canal. The spring box, pipe, and holding tank are all literally spitting distance (2 feet) from this trail they want to use as an access road for heavy equipment. That road is less than 12 feet wide and a fairly steep grade. I do think I got their attention at the meeting today. Good thing is one of the County Commissioners was there. He is also a rancher. He perked right up when I said I had no problem with the power line route but I didn't want them destroying my spring.

 

[TexasBred]

boy.. thats some crappy news when you just bought that place..

4 towers is a lot on a property.. They'll only pay where the towers are probably.. I doubt they'll pay where the lines are overhead.

They will have an easement everywhere the power line crosses. Most compensation is not based on the value of the little bit of land in the right of way but more on how the power line and any towers affect the market value of the entire place. A good attorney that specializes in eminent domain can make you a lot of money.

 

[ddd75]

boy.. thats some crappy news when you just bought that place..

4 towers is a lot on a property.. They'll only pay where the towers are probably.. I doubt they'll pay where the lines are overhead.

They will have an easement everywhere the power line crosses. Most compensation is not based on the value of the little bit of land in the right of way but more on how the power line and any towers affect the market value of the entire place. A good attorney that specializes in eminent domain can make you a lot of money.

yea right.....

My wifes grandparents were in court over powerline placement for over 2 years and a lot of money.. In the end they put them where they wanted, logged the woods out, and payed them not even near market value (8-10k / ac land and they got I think 2500 compensation for 4 large towers on the property. only good thing is it is in the very back of the property and you can't see them very well.

good luck.

 

[TexasBred]

boy.. thats some crappy news when you just bought that place..

4 towers is a lot on a property.. They'll only pay where the towers are probably.. I doubt they'll pay where the lines are overhead.

They will have an easement everywhere the power line crosses. Most compensation is not based on the value of the little bit of land in the right of way but more on how the power line and any towers affect the market value of the entire place. A good attorney that specializes in eminent domain can make you a lot of money.

yea right.....

My wifes grandparents were in court over powerline placement for over 2 years and a lot of money.. In the end they put them where they wanted, logged the woods out, and payed them not even near market value (8-10k / ac land and they got I think 2500 compensation for 4 large towers on the property. only good thing is it is in the very back of the property and you can't see them very well.

good luck.

Like I said, get a good attorney. One that specializes in eminent domain. They will always put their right of way right where they want it and they will cut what trees that need to be cut. Trees have no value to anyone but you. If they paid your folks anything for the trees you're lucky. Never heard of a utility company putting up with someone that's little more than a nuisance for two years. They will usually just go ahead and file for eminent domain and you will get a letter when to show up to testify in front of the tribunal and they don't waste time. Sounds like they didn't negotiate a very good deal. Oh well better luck next time. :nod:

 

[Dave]

I knew that this power line was coming in when I bought the property. It is 40-50 acres per cow kind of ground. It is steep with lots of rock. There are no trees of any value. Just thin grass, sagebrush, and a few Junipers. The right of way is 150 feet wide and a little over a mile long. Right now it would take me well over an hour to walk from the house to the location of the closest tower and probably take at least a half hour to ride a quad to the location of the tower the farthest from the house. This is not easy ground. It is steep and rugged. There is a reason that there are bighorn sheep on this place. I do want to maximize the dollars I get but actually anything I get will be like free money. As I stated earlier my real concern is the possibility of heavy equipment traffic next the the spring that supplies water to the house.

 

[hurleyjd]

I gave a power line easement to the Southern Company and was paid nearly twice the value of the land. They put up a brand new fence and new gates and only they (or their contractors) can use this land. They also have a program called Wings where they will pay me to keep and maintain wildlife food plots in the easement area. In all, I haven't had any problems with any of this.

As an added bonus, since the power line is a major distribution line, I have since been offered some pretty good money from companies wanting to install solar farms since you can get an extra $0.02 kwh if the solar farm is located next to a trunk line. I haven't pursued this just yet but having this easement has given me more options in the future.

There are several solar panel farms planned to be installed in Hunt County Texas and North of Greenville. These are along a power line that moves power to Dallas. Projected tax revenue for some school districts in the neighbor hood of 1/2 million and more. Good hair asked if they would be powered with coal.

 

[greybeard]

"Good hair" ?