Power line

[Dave]

Well there is going to be a big transmission line crossing my property. This thing has been going on or 14-15 years while they decided where to put, got permits, etc. It goes from the area of the big hydroelectric dams on the Columbia to the Boise area. So they came and made me an offer on the easement. Good thing I am already retired because you sure couldn't retire on what they offered. It crosses about a mile of my property and has 5 of those big towers. I heard they low ball the first offer. This isn't low ball. It is an insult. I feel like billing them for my time dealing with them over the last 4 years. That bill would be more than their offer. Tomorrow I will take it in to my lawyer and turn it over to him.

 

[Named'em Tamed'em]

Well there is going to be a big transmission line crossing my property. This thing has been going on or 14-15 years while they decided where to put, got permits, etc. It goes from the area of the big hydroelectric dams on the Columbia to the Boise area. So they came and made me an offer on the easement. Good thing I am already retired because you sure couldn't retire on what they offered. It crosses about a mile of my property and has 5 of those big towers. I heard they low ball the first offer. This isn't low ball. It is an insult. I feel like billing them for my time dealing with them over the last 4 years. That bill would be more than their offer. Tomorrow I will take it in to my lawyer and turn it over to him.

Might get a mile of good road out of it.

 

[Brute 23]

Last numbers I saw were $20K a pole. That was 10 years ago.

I despise electric transmission lines. The contractors tend to be the slime of the slime. There is zero way to hold them accountable other than suing them. They are a contstant pia.

A few years back we had a line come through a property we have leased. The contractor was a nightmare doing the work. They stood right in front of me a AEPs land man and said they will do what ever they want. I'll never forget, KV Power.

A couple months later guess who's office they walk in to? We were laying lines all over wtx and they wanted to bid on it. When I told them no and why they got mad and went to our corporate office crying. They denied it and tried to claim it was a misunderstanding. I typed a nice email to our ceo and several VPs, along with their people. I had documented every thing that happened along with pictures, names, etc. Our ceo personally shut them down and told them we try to maintain a positive working relationship with our land owners and he did not feel they shared that same sentiment. Karma is a B...........eautiful thing.

 

[Dave]

Might get a mile of good road out of it.

It sure won't be my definition of a good road. Starts at the top goes down to the lowest tower where it dead ends. It is so steep they will need to use a cat to pull trucks up out of there. Not a place where I would want a road.

 

[Son of Butch]

Tomorrow I will take it in to my lawyer and turn it over to him.

Unfortunately that is most likely the best solution.
A cousin was in a similar situation and got a lawyer, cost went up for everyone involved and my cousin came out a little bit better than without an attorney.
But I always thought, why couldn't everyone be reasonable to begin with, it would have saved everyone time and money.

 

[bird dog]

The first thing you need to do is read up on disputes. Who are going to be the judges that handle them. If the arbitration panel is a group of your peers (fellow landowners) things are much in your favor. Counter offer with at least 3 times what they are offering.
On my place they offered 32K. I countered with 80K. Two months later they raise their offer to 40K and threatened eminent domain. I raised my counter offer to 95K when I found out the arb panel would consist of three of my peers. It took nine months and a trip to watch the trials of some others that wouldn't settle for me to build my case. When I showed up for trial with a stack of photos and documents, they decided to play nice. I settled with my original offer of 80 plus expenses which were $3000.

Ironically one the trials I watched had a hotshot well polished lawyer representing this man that claimed his tract was going to be set up a a housing project for ranchettes. It was complete BS and everyone knew it. The land had been for sale for 5 years. The arb panel shot him down. I talked to the arb panel after it was over and they said the big city lawyer's lies disgusted them. So if it goes to trial be careful. For sure be there in person. Act and dress like the cowboy you are and act like the transmission company and their lawyers are trying to take advantage of a country bumkin.

 

[Dave]

The first thing you need to do is read up on disputes. Who are going to be the judges that handle them. If the arbitration panel is a group of your peers (fellow landowners) things are much in your favor. Counter offer with at least 3 times what they are offering.
On my place they offered 32K. I countered with 80K. Two months later they raise their offer to 40K and threatened eminent domain. I raised my counter offer to 95K when I found out the arb panel would consist of three of my peers. It took nine months and a trip to watch the trials of some others that wouldn't settle for me to build my case. When I showed up for trial with a stack of photos and documents, they decided to play nice. I settled with my original offer of 80 plus expenses which were $3000.

Ironically one the trials I watched had a hotshot well polished lawyer representing this man that claimed his tract was going to be set up a a housing project for ranchettes. It was complete BS and everyone knew it. The land had been for sale for 5 years. The arb panel shot him down. I talked to the arb panel after it was over and they said the big city lawyer's lies disgusted them. So if it goes to trial be careful. For sure be there in person. Act and dress like the cowboy you are and act like the transmission company and their lawyers are trying to take advantage of a country bumkin.

I have never heard of there being an arbitration panel here. My lawyer is a local who is representing a fairly high percentage of the people involved in this. He dresses like clean cut cowboy or at least when I have seen him. His family owns a fairly big ranch near here. He is the land use attorney in one of the biggest law firms in the county. He has represented the county in a number of issues.
Idaho Power intentionally routed this over range land as it has less value. My land is and never will be anything but range land. It is steep and a long walk to water. It is interesting that just a couple hundred feet to the west and they would be crossing BLM. But they have avoided crossing BLM like the plague. Apparently it is cheaper and easier to deal with a bunch of ranchers than it is to deal with the federal government. I have been told that in 2008 when Obama was president. This power line was on his list of project which needed to be done. Just don't build it on federal land that was so poor the homesteaders passed on it.

 

[Hippie Rancher]

document everything, keep a dedicated file or notebook. take a lot of before and after pictures. one of your big concerns is erosion of that slope. do they need to fence the easement for you? can you have any extra/damaged/old poles (if you want them)? is this on a boundary of private or right through the middle someplace. is there any good it could possibly do you? (do you have electric now, can they run you a line? need a well at the location, same question. make them pay for your time. past and future, this is where that notebook is handy.

 

[Hippie Rancher]

oh and I don't blame ANYBODY for rather working with landowners than BLM! with them you get govt bureaucracy + nearby landowners + environmental types. at LEAST 3 times the headaches.

 

[Travlr]

document everything, keep a dedicated file or notebook. take a lot of before and after pictures. one of your big concerns is erosion of that slope. do they need to fence the easement for you? can you have any extra/damaged/old poles (if you want them)? is this on a boundary of private or right through the middle someplace. is there any good it could possibly do you? (do you have electric now, can they run you a line? need a well at the location, same question. make them pay for your time. past and future, this is where that notebook is handy.

That's all good advice. A lot of people never think about the incidentals you can get along with money.

 

[Brute 23]

Unfortunately that is most likely the best solution.
A cousin was in a similar situation and got a lawyer, cost went up for everyone involved and my cousin came out a little bit better than without an attorney.
But I always thought, why couldn't everyone be reasonable to begin with, it would have saved everyone time and money.

Same with the people I dealt with. Most of these lines use eminent domain. That is where the attitudes of the people come from. People fight the values all the time but they generally break even by the time they pay the lawyer.

Don't think that company does not know exactly what it costs you to fight them. They do this every... single... day... just like insurance companies.

If they didn't fight those high offers every one would want that high amount right from the start. It's a math game. Low ball every one, pretend to fight the few, when you avg it... they still come out better.

 

[Dave]

This is one of those huge 500 mega watt lines. No power poles, big metal bridge work towers. I certainly can't get power from it. Neighbor to the south was the one raising the most trouble during the planning. Funny he is the first one to settle. He told me they made an offer, he turned it down, and they came back with a second offer which he took. I tried to get an idea from him about how much they would pay (not the exact amount he got). It was a waste of my time. I hope my lawyer know but he can't tell me of course.
There is a bunch of us all represented by the same lawyer. They can threaten eminent domain but doing that times 20 or 30 will cost them a lot of money and time. I talked to some of the people who are the actual contractor who are going to build. I was told that the power company wants to start construction in 18 months and be completed by 2026. It is ball park 300 miles long. I hope they have more money than time. Another thing is this line goes over the Umatilla Indian Reservation. I would bet they had to pay the Indians plenty. The Indians have a number of lawyers.