Northern Pass: Redux Of 1970's Pope County Michigan - Granite Grok

Northern Pass: Redux Of 1970’s Pope County Michigan

Northern Pass wants to build a build a 180-mile power line corridor through 44 Granite State Communities from as far North as Pittsburg down to Deerfield.

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House Bill 648, “An act relative to eminent domain petitions by public utilities” brought 250 supporters, roughly 170 of which are property owners located on the proposed or alternative route of the project. According to the Bill’s analysis section, the bill seeks to, “Prohibit public utilities from petitioning for permission to take private land or property rights for the construction or operation of a private large scale transmission line.” The bill drew overwhelming support by those who fear their land might be taken from them or rendered worthless.

Such fears are not without precedent. This fight is not a new fight. This very situation played out in Minnesota in the early 1970’s where farmers waged a fight against big power companies taking farmland by eminent domain. The farmers ultimately lost this fight. This account is detailed in the book Powerline: the first battle of America’s energy war, written by the late Senator Paul D. Wellstone and Barry M. Casper (Forward in 2003 by lefty Senator Tom Harkin). Aside from the book being written by a couple of liberal progressives, the book is otherwise instructive in the plight of these farmers against Big Power.

Arguments against the project range from blighting the landscape and disparately affecting the tourism industry to devaluation of land have been leveled. those are all reasonable. But there is one component given very little attention in the discussion here.

Big Power will nearly always make an attractive financial offer to you for a utility easement over your land. But what few really comprehend what happens after such an easement is given by a landowner. Read the account of a Fond-du-Lac Wisconsin Farmer that granted a power company a lease to install a wind turbine on his farm land.

In July of 2009 the Londonderry Fish & Game Club finally resolved its legal issues when it was granted an easement to cross land owned by the National Grid in Litchfield. For many years, the club was involved in a legal dispute testing whether or not the road the club was using for the past 30 plus years was as a result of an easement or a permissive use. If the Club lost the legal argument, the 83-acre parcel would essentially be landlocked with no effective access to its property. (Full Disclosure: This author was President of LFGC for five years, spending considerable time shepherding the Club through this juggernaut of expensive litigation).

For several years the Club petitioned their abutter the National Grid for permission to pass over an already established Switchyard access road on Lund Street in Litchfield to no avail. Big Power essentially ignored the club and would not deal with us, let alone talk to us.

In the wake of the this litigation, the opposing party, Litchfield Sand and Gravel actually became an advocate of sorts for our cause. Despite our pending litigation in the Rockingham County Superior Court, Mr. Richard Charbonneau generously applied his considerable resources on the Club’s behalf, if for no other reason, than to put this issue behind both parties and move on.

While the National Grid would not talk to LFGC, they certainly would talk to Rick Charbonneau. Summarily, the Grid refused to grant us permission to use the already established access road and insisted we build our own. Charbonneau petitioned the ZBA for Litchfield and was denied. (A Supreme Court Appeal later affirmed the Superior Court’s reversal of the Litchfield ZBA). Meanwhile, the Grid reversed its position and agreed to allow LFGC to use the access road. In July of 2009, The LFGC constructed its leg off of the access road, resolving its legal issues with Continental Paving. LFGC’s case is extremely rare and unique in that the LFGC has a substantially powerful advocate in Rick Charbonneau and Continental Paving, without whom such access would never have happened.

The larger point here is that Big Power is not in the business of being accommodating to the community, or its landowners. They are in the business of acquiring property for their use, whether through easements, leases or yes, eminent domain, but to the exclusion of all others. National Grid, for example has in place a policy that all persons on land owned or controlled by them, that are not employees of National Grid, are reported to Police as “Trespassers.” (as articulated in Hill v. National Grid)

The residents in the North Country do not have a powerful interest like Rick Charbonneau. So, with that understood, it is important for people to know exactly what happens after big power has its grip on private property.

Once Big Power has a lock on your land, they control how you use that portion of land and anything in proximity that they perceive to have an effect. They may exercise a right to keep people off of the land, even the owner! Big Power will often control specifically what activities you engage in on your land. They might write restrictions into leases and easements that effectively vest some future property right against your interests. The only hope and remedy private citizens have against the behemoth big power company willing to take their land, is HB 648.

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