Power company wants an easement

S

shadowsbane

Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2016
Messages
1,731
Location
Nc
Rating - 100%
7   0   0
So rep from the power company came out to my house a few days ago to talk to me.

Apparently they want me to grant an easement So they can run power out to the rich neighborhood behind me in order to give them some streetlights.

I tell him to email me the particulars and I will look them over only to see that they are willing to pay me the grand sum of a single us dollar for the ceding of my property rights in perpetuity.

So do they really think I am that dumb personally or is this the case that most people just sign things in front of them without reading whst they are?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Me.
Oh they sent me the design plans and all that for the project. And the rep tried his best to sell it while he was there.

Still I told them no, I would not do such a thing for free. He'll that won't even cover the cost of the notary fee. Let alone anything else.

Anyone else deal with them in this matter before?
 
Thats the opening ask. Dont even counter until they give you a real offer. Also, study those plans and see if they have a viable alternative through another neighbor and what sort of line they're going to install on your property.

https://forensic-appraisal.com/power-lines
 
Last edited:
Catfish said:
Thats the opening ask. Dont even counter until they give you a real offer. Also, study those plans and see if they have a viable alternative through another neighbor and what sort of line they're going to install on your property.

https://forensic-appraisal.com/power-lines
Click to expand...
Trenched underground line. It is 50 feet of my property or about 50 yards and boring under two roads as the other option.
 
shadowsbane said:
Trenched underground line. It is 50 feet of my property or about 50 yards and boring under two roads as the other option.
Click to expand...

Well considering the mechanical boars they would have to do to go across the roads are about 1k a foot I'd say you could easily get 15k+.
 
Last edited:
Going to ignore the "HELL NO" emotional responses and try to be rational here...

shadowsbane said:
Trenched underground line. It is 50 feet of my property or about 50 yards and boring under two roads as the other option.
Click to expand...
That's zero added value to your property and it will cost you any future use of the area. I can't help you put a value on that.

I'd make them follow a property line, provide a metes-and-bounds easement exhibit showing exactly where the easement is located and how big it is BEFORE installation, have the easement lines staked on the ground BEFORE installation, and have a utility location service mark the power line after installation, and I'd make them pay for all of that. I would not agree to their boilerplate language which says in effect "the easement goes wherever we decide to put the line".

It's pretty common for contractors to more-or-less ignore imaginary lines on paper and put stuff where it's easy to put stuff.
 
Last edited:
Do the houses already have power from a different access point? With LED streetlamps, it seems like they wouldn't even need a new line. Perhaps there is a different (future) reason for wanting this line run?
 
Mike Overlay said:
its not quit that expensive. But 15k does have that nice soothing tone about it

https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop09021/03cost.htm
Click to expand...

My in-laws own a boring company. They would have to do a mechanical bore meaning the excavator has to be moved the whole ordeal. My father in law has told me it's about 1k per ft for a normal bore. He once had to buy a special auger head and he charged 12k per ft on a 200ft bore. That stuff isn't cheap and it means permits out the yang. I've seen checks at my in-laws house ranging from 80-400k dollars for work they have done.
 
The bottom line really is what the right-of-way is worth to the user. What is the user willing to pay in the competitive environment? Unlike real property, there is not a lot of history to go on in street right-of-way. Until very recently, access to the street right-of-way has essentially been given away. It is only now being seen as a scarce resource. As well, recent examples of charges for access have generally been on a percent of revenue basis rather than a linear charge, so it is very early to interpolate a linear value or to determine whether in the long term, those charges are high or low compared to the market.

I know the above is referrence street right of ways, but is does make an interesting point of revenue worth to the user.
get a lawyer
 
Mike Overlay said:
get a lawyer
Click to expand...

This. Giving them right of way means they can access your property any time day or night. I’d get advice on that before I talked to the power company again. Like the govt, they do NOT have yours or anyone else’s best interests in mind except their own
 
Do not give any easement on your property. If you go to sell in the future many buyers see “easement” on a survey and get nervous which could cut your property value both now and then. Unless they are talking real big bucks ... hell to the no!
 
Last edited:
They'll probably try shaming you before long: "Regular Joe line-workers will be injured in the dark of night restoring power after wind / ice storms while your cruel butt lies in bed if you don't go along with this". That was volley two against me. Volley three was the implied threat that I'd be way down the list for restoration after outages. I just said no thank you.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Me.
Hold it ... rich neighborhood that is already existing? Hmmm ... so they already have power to the neighborhood. Why do they need to run another line when there is power already feeding the daddy big buckers? Maybe the big buckers don’t want their property or infrastructure to be messed up so screw the little guy behind us and offer him $1.
 
If you got 1% of gross revenue from homes serviced by that line, you’d likely have free electricity. I’d take a recurring revenue stream like a % share over a flat rate that is likely to be pretty small, unless I had plans to move in the coming 5-10yr.
 
I used to be a lineman. Let me tell you this... Not once did I ever have to run a separate primary circuit into a neighborhood to power street lights, and this was before LED. If they want that line it's either to backfeed for outages or redundancy or further expansion of the grid. It has nothing to do with Street lamps. They pull those off of individual service drops and transformers. You're not getting the whole story...
 
Last edited:
Yep they told me mine was for redundancy. I will say I have never experienced a power outage of more than 12hrs and usually measured in minutes, in 15 years. I can count the number of outages I actually remember on one hand. Pretty good.
 
Ikarus1 said:
Yep they told me mine was for redundancy. I will say I have never experienced a power outage of more than 12hrs and usually measured in minutes, in 15 years. I can count the number of outages I actually remember on one hand. Pretty good.
Click to expand...

Sounds like @shadowsbane 's isn't redundancy for him, just his rich neighbors...
 
Last edited:
I am not an expert but wouldn’t that easement used for other utilities at the whim now of the power company who got the easement from you?
 
NCFubar said:
Hold it ... rich neighborhood that is already existing? Hmmm ... so they already have power to the neighborhood. Why do they need to run another line when there is power already feeding the daddy big buckers? Maybe the big buckers don’t want their property or infrastructure to be messed up so screw the little guy behind us and offer him $1.
Click to expand...

I agree, rich or not doesn't matter, already existing power infrastructure in place. I vote nope! Once one public utility has easement others may soon follow.
 
I believe some member-owned utility Co-Ops claim NOT to be a "Public Utility", and be therefore governed ONLY by the Co-Op's own Bylaws, which almost certainly say that in order to be a "Co-Op Member" (and get product/service from the Co-OP) you have granted them permission to do anything they want to regarding use of your property. Just probably a good thing to know before you start negotiating, for those getting service from a member-owned Cooperative.

IANL, and I could be wrong.
 
Last edited:
Aardvark said:
I believe some member-owned utility Co-Ops claim NOT to be a "Public Utility", and be therefore governed ONLY by the Co-Op's own Bylaws, which almost certainly say that in order to be a "Co-Op Member" (and get product/service from the Co-OP) you have granted them permission to do anything they want to regarding use of your property. Just probably a good thing to know before you start negotiating, for those getting service from a member-owned Cooperative.

IANL, and I could be wrong.
Click to expand...

You are right in that it’s complicated, and it varies by state, but I have never seen one where the members ceded property rights to the co-op. Not saying it’s impossible, just that it isn’t done like that in at least 23 states.
 
Maybe give them the back wheels off your truck, too.

And, they get the wife on Saturdays and Sundays, but only if she's good looking. And, if you have a hunting dog, they'll go ahead and take him during hunting season. But only if he's a good one.
 
double tap
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom