New fight brewing over eminent domain
“The right of power companies to condemn private property for a transmission line is headed for another battle at the Montana Legislature, as a Republican state senator wants to repeal a two-year-old law defining that right.
Sen. Debby Barrett of Dillon said Friday the law ignored the rights of property owners and tilted the legal landscape too much in favor of power-line developers.
The debate over eminent domain reprises the legislative battle from 2011, when the Legislature went down to its last week before narrowly approving a law stating that utilities and power-line developers can use eminent domain to condemn private property along an approved route.
Utilities asked for the law in the wake of a District Court decision that said they had to expressly show that any line was a public use before using eminent domain. They argued the decision improperly altered longstanding precedent that gave utilities such power, and that the law merely restored what had been understood.”
Dennison, Mike. Billings Gazzette 25 January 2013.