Homeowners and Farmers Up in Arms Over Proposed Power Line Project
Environmental and consumer groups in Michigan say proposed transmission lines could lower electricity bills and save $3.4 billion over 20 years. These lines will connect renewable energy projects to demand centers and increase cheap electricity; however, federal authorities worry that grid congestion and delayed transmission development will slow clean energy project grid connections and hinder climate change efforts.
Landowners Concerns Grow
The $10.3 billion Midwest project will build high-voltage lines from Michigan to Indiana for the first time in 50 years. Project supporters say the lines will improve dependability, grid congestion, and accessibility to cheaper, more sustainable power, saving the state billions.
Locals, however, are protesting 100-foot power poles crossing their backyards as they await state approval this year. Birmingham lawyer Matthew Ackerman shares that the hardest part for property owners in these cases is the uncertainty of whether the project will happen and how it will impact them for several years. ITC Michigan subsidiary, Michigan Electric Transmission Co., strives to reduce human and environmental impact.
Michigan’s 40 Mile Power Line
In separate Michigan Public Service Commission cases, ITC’s subsidiary seeks site approval for two 345-kilovolt transmission line projects. The second line will run 40 miles from Oneida Township in Eaton County, west of Lansing, to a substation in New Haven Township in Gratiot County. The southernmost line will be 55 miles long.
Michigan Public Service Commission buildout certificates are required for large transmission developers, and the ITC may approve or deny the project. No homes are along the proposed route, but the corporation can acquire easements via eminent domain and compensate landowners.
Alan Ackerman, founder of the Ackerman and Ackerman law firm, expresses his concerns to Michigan Farm News, saying he worries about how tough this will be for farmers and how they will survive.
