Letter to the Editor: No more eminent domain for private gain
“The following is rural Ontario resident Patricia Conway’s comment for a public hearing on the Badger-Coulee Tranmisson Proposal.
There is a movement across the country to revise state laws so that private companies like American Transmission Company (ATC) can no longer condemn private property for their for-profit transmission lines.
Some describe this movement as a “sweeping backlash against one of the most despised practices of using eminent domain for private gain.” The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, “Nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” State constitutions have identical or similar language that restricts the taking of private property to only true public uses, like roads, fire stations and schools.
This public hearing centers on the PSC’s attempt to determine if there is a sufficient need for the Badger-Coulee line to issue the CPCN and justify the taking of private property for this for-profit merchant line. No one denies that the proposed line is clearly not for public ownership or public use. That’s why Wisconsin must go through this very expensive process to establish the necessity of the line: Our state law still allows the use of eminent domain authority for private gain if the need for the merchant transmission line can be established.”
The County Line 9 December 2014.