According to Holt, Georgia is one of only a handful of states that has no agency charged with overseeing the use of eminent domain for placement of power lines. There was no law governing the process of using eminent domain in those situations prior to 2004. GTC argues that there is already a bill in place that oversees this process. But according to Holt, the bill that was passed that year originally sought to create a statewide Transmission Line Siting Committee with power to approve or disapprove proposed power line projects. By the time it passed, it had been watered down to little more than a requirement that property owners in the vicinity of a proposed line be notified of the project, and that the utility hold one or two public meetings about it. Tatum, Crystal. Newton Citizen 22 October 2012.
