Land Owners Rights vs. Power Company Right of Way

Sorry it took so long to respond...
Thanks for all the great advice and my sympathies to all those in more dire and extreme situations than ours. Our intention was never to battle the power company (perhaps educate their tree removal crews for the future would be nice...good luck), we just wondered what others might know. We only found out about the easement at closing, and felt that the overall amount of land effected wasn't a deal breaker. We only hope to form a better understanding of usage. To that extent, the power company has offered to send someone (land agent?) to assess our situation, beyond the standard "we suggest you plant x type of trees at y distance from lines. (By the way, they are not the "tower" type of lines, just a simple pole and line through to our nearest neighbor and beyond to two more parcels.) I had always figured getting the poles out would be near impossible, but as such they are a neccessary and minor "evil". Oh, and it is an easement, not right of way, a copy of the easement being on its way to us as we speak.My thanks to those who have been kind enough to respond with grace, civility and understanding.

I never claimed this to be about aesthetics, simply a question of practical use for a piece of our property that would not interfere with an existing, albeit outside, use. As first time home buyers, we did alright for ourselves in the homework department, we just seek some help from a like minded community, thats all. A suggestion that we did not think before we bought, or an assumption that we may not be "conservative" minded I didn't find helpful or neccessary. I hope i'm not being thin skinned here, the tone just seemed not to match our quiries.

Also it is advised to post the property if you do not want it sprayed with herbicides if you are going to use it. I have seen simple DO NOT SPRAY signs up but I think you should contact them and ask for the proper procedures. Otherwise they will just go through and spray away. You wouldn't want your animals eating sprayed grass.

The topic you brought up kinda runs the whole gambit - some have had real issues with being able to get power/utilites; while others have been seriously run over by utilities condemning the entire property & building their line or utility wherever they want & not getting around to paying for it for 3 years, and then at far less than book value. Some utilities are pretty nice, and some are real buggers, running down fences & driving where thay shouldn't, clearing trees where thay shouldn't, etc.

Around 'here' any more, the utilities are given free range, and can just go ahead. It's not like anyone can 'give' permission or not - good luck to those who think they own their own land. If a utility needs to be built, you just get out of the way......

Your question was good, it's just on a rather sensitive topic.

don't take any of the replies, including mine, to heart. It's not _you_ people are grumbling to; it is past experiences, the frustration of personal dealing, etc. that is coming out.

Good question, thanks for following up with a bit more info, and don't take anything badly. This is just typical of an issue that has hit some of us pretty badly over the years, our chance to grumble and gripe. You openned the door, nothing is really aimed at you.

Welcome to the forum.

--->Paul

Welcome, POM. I too live in NY. If you live anywhere near Lake Ontario you may be in line (pun intended) for a much bigger battle. I won't high jack you thread unless it pertains to you. I am in great fear that all of our property may be reduced to nothing due to a project for "green power".

We used to have an two easements with I believe a forty foot ROW for two main gas lines. We were restricted as to what we could build, not in the ROW, and plant. They would do aerial inspections and mechanical clearing. So glad we got rid of that parcel. It is increasingly difficult to find property without some kind of easement attached to it.

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"I hope i'm not being thin skinned here, the tone just seemed not to match our quiries."

Perhaps, looking back at your original post, mine was more influenced by the early responses than it should have been. If that offended, I apologize that the tone was abrupt. Some of those responses started to trigger a hot button for me, where they forced remembrance that the quiet and beautiful area where I grew up, where people could do what they wanted with and on their properties, was taken over by outsiders who started in with restrictions and trying to destroy infrastructure to get unimpeded views. "What can we do about these ugly and dangerous high tension power lines?" was one of the mantras.

My bad... and I can clearly see your point. I gather that for some it has/can be a bitter issue. Ours (thankfully so far) hasn't been an epic tragedy, and judging by the response from the power company (providing we remain realistic in our expectations) they have been open to our questions regarding use. I will keep everyone informed on our progress. Thanks!

my in laws live in an "intentional community" with about 25 families, each with an acre, and 75 acres of common land. they negotiated 30 years ago with the power company not to spray under the lines in order to do organic gardening and they've stuck to it for all that time. we are lucky it is a small cooperative because the Big Dog power company for sure would have been more difficult to deal with. just don't plant perennials because they could destroy it at any time.

You can grow anything under the lines that don't and won't interfere with the lines. You can keep stock under the lines. However, you cannot have the lines removed and whatever damage they cause to your crops or livestock you just have to suck up. My experience with the power company was that when they decided the lines needed to be cleaned they came through two closed gates into my pasture with my broodmares. they used my front yard instead of the drive that went around the house to one of the gates, thus tearing deep ruts in the yard. They sprayed vegetation in the pasture, left their garbage from lunch in my pasture and all the trash from the trees that they trimmed. Then they left without closing the gates behind them. I came home had all the mess to clean up and later that night when I went to check on my pregnant mares one was down in her stall and having convulsions. She was dead the next morning and the autopsy concluded that she had been poisoned. I had 5 neighbors on this road that lost either horses or cows all on the same day or within less than 24 hours of the power company being on their land. I lost that mare and her baby and one of the other mares aborted. None of us could get anything out of the power company. So be forewarned. We now keep the line across that corner of the pasture cleared so they have no reason to come onto our property unless they need to repair something. Blessings, Kat

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Come visit Homesteading and Homekeeping at Whisperwind Farm

I have a 100' transmission line easement at the far end of my 20. I chatted with the power company line guys doing upgrade work a couple years ago and found out I can most certainly use all the land on that easement and I can certainly fence it in as long as they can get their equipment through a gate. I ended up on their list to have THEM install their preferred gate and posts. Took a few years to get around to me, but last Friday low and behold, a beautiful steel pole double gate, cemented square posts and also steel poles going out from those posts 10' on either side of the gate are now in place. They also brush hogged the "pasture" for me so it is now ready for some upgrade work itself. They had also, earlier in the month, send a tree trimming crew out to clear all the lines, right up to the house, and then proceeded to chip all the trimmings, so no mess. Then a different crew came out and brush hogged all under the lines all the way to the house which was a big help to spiffy things up all along the driveway. I have absolutely NO complaints regarding my local power company at all. All American crews, polite, informative, clean and quick work all around.

Your deed should spell out what they can do in the right of way. Re-read that!

We are dealing with this now. Our easement allows them to be on our land but it does not give them permission to build a road. But, they want to upgrade to stronger lines and replace poles with larger ones, and to bring the equipment through the right of way needs more rights than what they have. So, they bought the right to put in a temporary road from us. They will take out our fencing and so they will temporarily fence off the road so our dog does not get out.

They offered us $2000 for the change to the easement, and after seeing that the temporary fence was written into the contract, AND after asking them to clarify in writing the borders of the easement, we agreed.

*IF* we hadn't they could have gone to court an asked the courts to condemn the easement, as the city needs more power. If the courts decided that their offer was fair they could have ordered us to accept it. But, we considered their offer to be fair to build a temporary road on a single acre, an we did accept it.

Most of my apple trees were where they wanted to put the road and so they cut them last week. I will miss those trees, but I believe that I will now go to dwarfs. I am getting a little old to be climbing ladders, and dwarf trees yield earlier anyways. My one remaining apple tree will just have to produce well this year!

In the future I will raise annual vegetables on it.

They have not had equipment back there for the 20 years that I have owned it, and I pruned those apples hard to keep them well below the lines so that the power company would not remove them. They had no right to remove trees that did not threaten the lines.

Again, read the description of the easement on your deed. It should spell out what they can or cannot do.

Somewhere in the past, the electric company PAID for the easement to be on your land. You would have to buy it back, and if they sell it back I will eat my hat. Taking those lines down would cut many people off of electrical service as well as cutting the electric company off from their profits from those customers. They would lose money and your neighbors would be cut off, and so the electic company simply will not agree to vacate the easement.

NOPE! Not at all.
(the key word here is abandoned)

Thinking is fine but knowing what your thinking about is better..you might want to actually look into what your thinking/talking about.