Homeowners oppose high voltage line

By Nick Gevock - 09/12/2008

View maps outlining the project area and alternative transmission line routes here NorthWestern Energy Corp. will get to build a major power line stretching from Townsend south to Twin Falls, Idaho, as long as the company meets all the requirements of state law, a state official said Tuesday.

But the specifics of the route can be tweaked to avoid homes, businesses and other properties, said Tom Ring, a spokesman for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality's major facility siting program. And people with concerns over the 500 kilovolt power line should speak up early in the planning process, which takes at least two years to complete before construction can ever begin.

"I've never seen a project under the (state) siting act come out exactly the way it's proposed," Ring said before dozens of people in a Butte meeting. "At this stage in the process it's open to suggestions." There were plenty of suggestions offered by people who don't want the line to be built across their property.

"This would go right over the top of my house, which means I would not have a house," said Leslie Thomas, who lives on 20 acres about five miles north of Boulder, of one of the proposed routes. "I know 10 people who are very upset n it would destroy their homes." Steve McCann, who also lives north of Boulder, said the project would hurt their property values because of the lost view, stigma of potential health effects from a high voltage line and constant buzzing. He said a real estate agent estimated land values could fall as much as 80 percent.

"What happens when your house is suddenly worthless?" he said. "Who's going to compensate you for it?" The power line would stretch more than 400 miles. NorthWestern has proposed three routes for the line and is currently studying the pros and cons of each.

Mark Mackiewicz, national project manager with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, said power companies have to work with landowners to come up with a route that is acceptable. However, companies also have the right of eminent domain if agreements can't be reached.

The "preferred alternative," or route the company is leaning toward, would run from near Townsend southwest to Whitehall, then go along Interstate 90 to just south of Butte and continuing west to a substation near the Mill Creek highway just east of Anaconda. From there the line would go southeast to Interstate 15, follow that route and then go up the Big Sheep Creek drainage before crossing into Idaho.

Two other routes are also proposed that would bypass Butte, including one that cuts south west of Whitehall through the Jefferson Valley and another that goes north of Butte before dropping into the Mill Creek substation.

One man suggested the Jefferson Valley route as a way to avoid the numerous homes south of Butte.

But Ring said no matter which option is chosen, there will be issues with landowners.

"We can bypass those impacts, but believe me there will be other impacts," he said.

— Reporter Nick Gevock may be reached at nick.gevock@mtstandard.com