BAKER CITY — Attorneys for a Boise-based utility have filed two more condemnation lawsuits against Baker County property owners seeking easements along the route of the Boardman to Hemingway power transmission line scheduled to start construction this year.

Idaho Power, represented by attorneys Tim J. Helfrich and Zach Olson, of Yturri Rose LLP in Ontario, filed both suits on June 18 in Baker County Circuit Court.

Both properties are in the Durkee area, about 25 miles southeast of Baker City.

Idaho Power is seeking easements totaling almost 34 acres from Mathew and Amy Haas, who own a 1,390-acre parcel south of Interstate 84 near the Ash Grove Cement plant. The company wants an easement totaling about 28.3 acres for the powerline itself, and about 5.6 acres for an access road.

The total value of the easements is $36,250, according to the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs in the second suit are Levi and Amanda Bunch, who own a 395-acre parcel near the Burnt River Canyon Road west of Durkee.

Idaho Power is seeking an easement totaling 8.5 acres for the powerline, and 4.2 acres for an access road.

The value of the easements is $33,990, according to the lawsuit.

These are the third and fourth condemnation complaints Idaho Power has filed against Baker County landowners seeking easements for the B2H project.

Also known as eminent domain, condemnation is a legal process in which a judge or jury orders a property owner to sell land, or an easement, to make possible a particular project, and decides the price.

Eminent domain lawsuits can be filed by public agencies, such as a state department of transportation to acquire land for a highway or other project, or, as in this case, by a private firm.

According to the two lawsuits filed June 18, Idaho Power tried but failed to negotiate purchase of an easement across both the Haas and Bunch properties.

Earlier lawsuits

Idaho Power filed its first condemnation suit in Baker County in September 2023. The defendants are Scott and Kylie Gressley of Baker City.

Although the lawsuit is pending, Baker County Circuit Court Judge Matt Shirtcliff on Feb. 28 gave Idaho Power permission to enter the Gressleys’ property, along Interstate 84 about 5 miles southeast of Baker City, to build the power line.

Shirtcliff ordered Idaho Power to pay the Gressleys $83,960 for the easement.

The company had offered $18,960.

The Gressleys had asked for $392,542.50, arguing that they should be compensated for the long-term loss of value for the property, which they use for cattle grazing.