Wind power transmission lines

[warrington]

Anyone been faced with wind power transmission lines crossing their property. The company is lone star power. We are right in the middle of the preferred route for the lines. Any idea what they reimburse you for it. Is it by the foot or just single amount for each property owner. Or is ther any reimbursement at all. Thanks

[dharris]

Power line companies pay big bucks.A lady came in to the dealership I work at and told us she got like $800,000 for about 5 miles through her property.

[cehorn]

More than likely if it is power lines it will be acreage and damages. It isn't just the line but a certain distance (depending on what kind of line, etc) away from the line (if the line fell down where would it land, where does the electromagnetic field go to, etc) along the line. They will buy it as an easement and should pay you ~ 90% of what market value is if they actually purchased the land outright. As an easement you still have limited use of it (hunting, farming, etc) but you can't build anything permanent within the easement. This has been our experience. We also used a lawyer to get more money from them (LCRA). The lawyers fee was 30% of everything they got above LCRA's offer at the time we hired the lawyer.

[warrington]

Can you use the land underneath powerlines? Are they buried lines or under the ground? Can you run cattle around them or hunt down them? Are they dangerour from the ground? Can you plant food plots down them? How wide are the easements? cehorn what lawyer did you use incase we need one? Thanks for the help

[cosmiccowboy]

We let the grandkids play under them all the time and never noticed any problems...

[TransPecos]

Our family has a power line r.o.w. through our place and they are wanting to do another one. We learned a lot from the first time around. Almost as important (if not more) as the money are the terms of the agreement. We had them route it through a part of the ranch that was really thick and needed clearing anyway. They ask for the world in the contract. The key is to get them to pay big but still control their access, build and maintain gates wherever the line crosses an existing (or old) fenceline, etc. I was sitting in a rifle blind one year when a spray crew came through the Right of way spraying brush. They heard about that one. If they have a material breach of the contract, you can cancel the easement and they have to go through the condemnation process again and pay you again. I will say that even though it is an eyesore, it is now one of the best hunting areas on the ranch. My Dad is a civil engineer and has negotiated these deals for people on a flat fee basis. PM me if you have any more questions.

[Todd-ty729]

We let the grandkids play under them all the time and never noticed any problems...

That right there is funny!

[cehorn]

Ours are above ground. From my experience, you can use the land underneath the lines (hunting, farming, cattle, etc), you just can't build a permanent structure (house, barn, etc) that would prevent them from driving down the lines for repairs under them. Or if say you were going to sell the land for a Home Depot, they could put parking lot under the lines but not the store. Now if they are buried, I don't know how that would change things. I would guess you could still hunt and run cattle but farming or paving may be an issue depending on how deep the lines are. My dad farms underneath of them and I'm pretty sure if they have to go in and repair lines while the corn is there, they have to pay damages to the corn also.

As far as width of easement, that will depend on the type and how big of a line it is. For example a simple pole with a single line will require much less width than a huge line with truss towers, etc(this is what we have). Depending on the type of line, there may be various types of easements also. There may be a primary easement that would cover if the lines fell down (ie if the poles are 50' tall the easement would be 100' wide to cover the poles falling down in both directions). There may also be a secondary easement if the lines are big enough to cover the electromagnetic field. It won't hurt you to be within this easement but long term exposure could cause a 6th finger (ie, it wouldn't hurt you to hunt within the easement but you couldn't live within the easement and have 8-10 plus hours of exposure every day).

I need to check with my dad to get the lawyers contact information. I'll post it when I get it

[cehorn]

We used Barron Adler law firm. Their website is below.

http://www.barronadler.com/?gclid=CL...cFk7Aod3U3rmQ#

[Grayson]

The devil is in the details----in this case, the terms of the easement. You should hire an attorney who will pay very close attention to the minute details of the agreement.

[Txnrog]

Rural electric Tansmission lines will be above ground. The cost to bury, maintain, and distance required between lines is prohibitive. Only place you see buried lines is within major metro areas - and most often only in the city center for a short section before they reach a substation (where the power is stepped down to the distribution lines).

Most often these are done as easement purchases with stipulations on the activities that can be conducted within the easement (to protect the lines and the safety of the individuals around them), but occasionally may be outright purchases depending on the size of the remaining property, and total percieved value impact.

Most likely, you would be able to farm or plant food plots beneath them with the understanding that they will maintain a road along the right of way, and there will likely be restrictions on how close you can plant to the actual structures reaching the ground (so you don't run a combine into them). You can typically introduce restrictions on normal maintenance times to the contract, but guarantee there will be a clause to override if urgent maintenance is required.