BAKER CITY — A judge has given Idaho Power Company permission to enter a privately owned parcel near Baker City to build a power transmission line, but the company has to pay the owners more than it had offered.

Baker County Circuit Court Judge Matt Shirtcliff issued a decision last week on Idaho Power’s motion in the eminent domain lawsuit it filed against Scott and Kylie Gressley of Baker City in September 2023.

Also known as condemnation, eminent domain is a legal process in which a judge or jury orders a property owner to sell land to make possible a particular project, and decides the price. Idaho Power is seeking easements totaling about 14 acres of the Gressleys’ property for the power line and an access road.

Idaho Power’s attorneys, Tim J. Helfrich and Zach Olson of Ontario, filed a motion seeking advance occupancy of the Gressleys’ property.

Attorney Andrew Martin of Baker City, who represents the Gressleys, argued in a reponse to Idaho Power’s motion that the company’s offer of $18,960 for an easement on the couple’s property, which is just north of Interstate 84 about 5 miles southeast of Baker City, was “outrageously inadequate and unfair.”

Shirtcliff heard arguments from both sides on the motion on Feb. 12 and Feb. 16.

In his written opinion, the judge wrote that “This court finds that the reasons for advance occupancy relating to the public interest are significant and the interests of the landowner can be adequately protected.”

Idaho Power’s attorneys contend that the company needs access to the Gressleys’ property, before the lawsuit is settled, to ensure construction on the 293-mile-long Boardman to Hemingway (B2H) transmission line can be built on schedule.

The company wants to finish the line by 2026.

“Not having advance access to even one parcel, including the Gressley Property, will cause a significant disruption in the construction of B2H,” the company’s motion states.

In his opinion, Shirtcliff wrote that “The court finds the testimony of Joe Stippel, Job Manager for the B2H Project, persuasive in that the transmission lines need to be energized and in service by 2026 to meet the region’s energy demands. This court finds that the Plaintiff has demonstrated sufficient public interest need to order advance occupancy.”

As to compensation to the Gressleys, Shirtcliff ordered Idaho Power to deposit $83,960 with the court, compared with the $18,960 the company had offered.

The Gressleys can petition the court to release all or some of the $83,960 while the lawsuit is still pending.

The Gressleys had asked the judge to award them $392,542.50.

Martin’s motion states that the Gressleys intend at trial to present evidence from an expert witness that the B2H project would devalue their entire 2,000-acre parcel by 25%.

Shirtcliff, in his opinion, wrote that construction on B2H likely will force the Gressleys to cease grazing cattle on their property for at least one year. The couple runs 200 cow-calf pairs and about eight bulls on the 2,000-acre property they bought in September 2022.

Shirtcliff ordered Idaho Power to pay the couple $45,000 for the loss of grazing rights and the need to find other grazing land. The judge also awarded the Gressleys $10,000 for shipping and fuel costs, and $10,000 for loss of other uses for the property. The judge also included the $18,960 that Idaho Power offered, bringing the total compensation to $83,960.

Shirtcliff noted in his opinion that the final amount of compensation would be determined at trial.

With advance occupancy, however, Idaho Power can build the power line across the Gressleys’ property even while the eminent domain suit is pending. What’s left to be determined, potentially at trial, is whether the company will have a permanent easement, and if so how much more money, if any, it will have to pay the Gressleys.

Shirtcliff noted this in his opinion, writing that “In addressing the protections of the landowner in this case, this court is focused on the potential damages during the initial occupancy and construction phase not the final determination regarding the final assessed value of the property after installation.”

In a letter to the court, Helfrich, one of Idaho Power’s lawyers, wrote that the company will not start construction on the power line on the Gressleys’ property until after Aug. 1, 2024.

B2H background

The 500-kilovolt line, first proposed in 2007, will run from near Hermiston to the Hemingway substation in Owyhee County, Idaho.

Oregon and Idaho state agencies have approved construction of the power line. Idaho Power and its partner, PacifiCorp, say the line is needed to handle growing demand for electricity that existing transmission lines can’t accommodate.

Although Idaho Power has overseen the project, PacifiCorp has a 55% ownership in the line, Idaho Power 45%.

Opponents, led by the Stop B2H Coalition, based in La Grande, dispute the companies’ claims that the power line is needed.

The opponents say the construction and operation of B2H could cause a variety of problems, including spreading noxious weeds and increasing the risk of wildfire.

The Boardman to Hemingway power line’s route through Baker County roughly parallels Interstate 84, although the line’s distance from the freeway varies considerably.

From south to north, B2H will enter the county near Farewell Bend. It will be on the south side of the freeway to near Rye Valley, then veer to the northwest, away from the interstate, for several miles.

From the mountains south of Durkee Valley the line will head north for several miles, crossing Interstate 84 near where Alder Creek flows beneath a freeway overpass.

From there the line will parallel the freeway through Pleasant Valley, then, a few miles southeast of Exit 306, head north. The line will cross Highway 86 about halfway up Flagstaff Hill, about a mile west of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.

The line remains east of the freeway, roughly paralleling the road, crossing Highway 237 a few miles east of North Powder, then veering northwest, crossing to the west side of the freeway near the base of Ladd Canyon.

According to Idaho Power Company, the line will be suspended by two types of steel towers, one with a lattice design, the other an H-frame.

Lattice towers will range in height from 130 to 180 feet, with an average of 140 feet.

H-frame towers will range from 100 to 130 feet, with an average of 100.

Each tower will have a “footprint” of 40 feet by 40 feet.

The average distance between towers will be 1,200 feet, with the lines, on average, 35 feet above the ground.

The right-of-way Idaho Power will acquire for the line will range from 100 feet wide to 250 feet.