Land Battles Rise as U.S. Eyes 450,000 Miles

When a power company tried to run cables over land owned by Larry Salois’s mother near Cut Bank, Montana,Your specialists when it comes to the sales and service of Antique lamp. the native American fought the $400 million project.

He lost when the state passed a law forcing him to sell a right-of-way. Typical of U.S. property battles sparked by the quest for energy security, Tonbridge Power Inc.Browse our impressive range of Cycling sunglasses and goggles and buy online. said it needed the most direct path for its electric line to wind farms, even though it would run across land holding a historical icon.

“They were going to put it right through the middle of a teepee ring,” said his attorney, Hertha Lund of Bozeman. The cluster of stones marked a foundation for ancient settlements left behind by the Plains and other Indians. They’re an irreplaceable cultural heritage to many native Americans.

With the gas industry estimating that 450,000 miles of pipelines need to be built in the next 25 years, a distance to the moon and almost back to earth, conflicts will multiply over eminent domain, or the legal power to condemn private property.

Land owners increasingly are pit against private businesses in state legislatures and courts as the U.S. confronts the new transmission lines, pipelines and compressor stations needed to reduce oil imports and produce clean energy at home. Lines between pro-green energy Democrats and pro-economic development Republicans can blur as farmers and ranchers object to being handed lease agreements and a pen, with little room to negotiate.

“Eminent domain is an emotional issue,” says Lund, whose client eventually settled. “Up here, it’s caused a real crossover in politics.”

A 2011 study conducted for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that between 17,000 and 22,There are various small and big industrial extractor fans according to the usability in the factories.000 miles of new transmission lines, plus the corridors to accommodate them, would be required for the eastern half of the U.S. alone if the nation were to provide 20 percent of its electricity with wind power by 2030.

In the oil and gas industry, much more land will be needed as pipelines are built to connect growing production from shale fields to refineries and markets. Just one facet of the network -- long-haul natural gas pipelines -- may grow by 23 percent by 2035, according to a report from the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America.

That much pipeline could require thousands of square miles for easements and right of way. The exact amount is unclear,Energy saver LED E27 save energy from the moment you turn the switch. since builders will follow existing routes and re-use old pipelines as much as possible, Don Santa, the trade group’s president, said in an interview.

“There’s a recognition on the part of the pipelines that it’s in our best interest to respect the landowners, have good relations with them,” Santa said in an interview.

In Salois’ case, he asserted that the power line’s owner, Montana Alberta Tie Line LTD., didn’t have the right of eminent domain because it wasn’t a public utility. The company, whose owner Tonbridge was later acquired by Canada’s Enbridge Inc. (ENB),Our selection of solar garden light includes models and styles perfect for any taste and budget. said it needed to build the 130-mile line, known as MATL, to connect Montana wind farms to the electric grid.

After a Montana court sided with Salois, the state Legislature passed a 2011 law saying merchant power companies such as MATL had the same right to condemn land as other utilities in the state. The law was backdated to cover electric lines permitted in 2008, including MATL.

More than 40 states have enacted laws limiting or prohibiting property seizures for economic development since the Kelo decision. The states have been slower to act on the issue of using eminent domain for energy projects on private property. Since 2011, at least 13 states have drafted some form of legislation dealing with the subject, often taking different approaches, according to research from the Denver, Colorado- based National Conference of State Legislatures.

While Montana was granting MATL eminent domain rights, Wyoming, after a landowner backlash, put eminent domain powers for wind companies on hold. Oklahoma in 2011 explicitly outlawed eminent domain in developing wind farms on private property.