Almost exactly perfect.

Good morning friends.

One of my clients has a ranch in Bosque County.  He's a big dog in Dallas (I'm not mentioning names).  The place is just under under 6,000 acres. 

He's a unique guy.  He's spent considerable resources managing the land and wildlife with great care and attention -- even receiving a Lone Star Land Stewards award for restoring the native prairie grasses.  When I last met him there I found him at the house where he had just finished working cattle.  Not watching some hand do it -- working cattle himself.  Not exactly what you expect on the typical Texas "vanity" ranch.

The main lodge (historic) is really spectacular and can accomodate 5 families in individual "casitas" all attached to the house.  Swimming pool, barbeque pits.  You get the picture.  The ranch also has two Bosque County historical sites on it -- one a New England-style barn which was built in 1896 and which he fully restored from the stacked-rock foundation up.  The view from the cupola (complete with outside viewing platform on all four sides) is stunning.  Miles and miles of Texas.

It's a really incredible place.  He entertains guests and business associates from all over the world there.  He thinks its perfect. 

I guess Lone Star Transmission (Florida Power and Light but with the power to condemn private property in Texas) thought it needed something . . .

. . . so they shoved a 345,000 volt electric transmission line right through the middle of it.

You're fired!

It's not just a television catch phrase any longer.

Previously, I posted about the fact that certain electric transmission companies were averse to paying landowners damages when they place giant infrastructure on their land (against the landowner's will).

Recently, Oncor Electric Delivery hired an appraiser to recommend to them what compensation should be paid to landowners in Lampasas County.  The appraiser made the mistake of telling Oncor that powerlines diminish property values.

They fired him.

Circling back.

As you may have read in the previous post, a jury found that the Lower Colorado River Authority diminished my client's property value by $787,500.00 when it placed a high voltage electric transmission line across it (in a 7-acre easement).

But, how did we get to that point -- where a jury had to decide?

Condemnation/eminent domain matters fall under Chapter 21 of the Texas Property Code.  When an entity with the power of eminent domain (which includes most common carriers of electric power) decides to acquire an easement from a private property owner there are several things it must do (keep in mind that we're not talking about the Public Utility Commission process here -- we're assuming that is already complete).  One of those steps is to make the landowner an offer of compensation.  There is a common misconception about eminent domain.  They can't just "take" your land -- at least not without paying for it.  In fact, the question of liability (whether compensation is owed) is not even in dispute at all.  They know they owe something.  Disputes often arise as to how much that is.  If the landowner and the entity cannot agree on compensation, the power company files suit and, ultimately, a trial may be held on the issue.

So, the LCRA (or some other entity) makes the landowner an offer.  In the above case, that amount was $307,000.00.  But how did they arrive at that number?  They hired an appraiser to tell them.  The appraiser's figure consisted of several components -- but the most important two for this discussion are: 1) the amount of money the actual easement area was worth; and, 2) the amount that the rest of the property was diminished in value because of the easement.

Now, very early in this blog's history I spoke of a Constitutional requirement that just compensation be paid but that sometime entities discharged their obligation to "pay" it without doing so at all.  I'll not lump the LCRA in with those.  The LCRA has, in my experience, hired appraisers that say that the overall property value (not just the easement) is diminished by powerlines.  Their appraisers may not say they hurt property as much as landowners think they do -- but at least they are conceding that a huge transmission line and associated structures (see the pictures at the top of the page) diminishes overall value to some degree.

Some companies (Oncor Electric for one) hires appraisers that say they don't!  I'm not kidding.  See the pictures above again.  So the Constitution says they have to pay just compensation.  And so they hire experts who tell them that they owe almost nothing.

Seriously?

Yes.

How do they get away with this?  Well, that's how the process works (you can thank your legislature for giving these companies the power of eminent domain).  The wind energy producers have to pay annual royalties to persons with windmills on their land.  But not the transmission companies.  They make a one-time purchase of the rights to scar your land forever.  And they (in large part) try to do it for the least amount of money possible.  They pick and choose who they hire as consultants -- and fire the ones that don't tell them what they want to hear.  And it's sad because the vast majority of people take their offers. They can afford to fight with people who choose to because they buy so much land so very cheaply.

Fortunately, for the ones who do choose to fight, the power companies don't get the last word.

Traveling for the next several days.  Happy weekend to you.

Results

See the article below -- about three-quarters of the way in -- for a mention of my case in Kerrville last week.  Success!

Thanks for reading.

CB

LCRA v. Syfert

Headed west

I haven't posted much lately as most of my time has been spent in preparation for a trial in Kerrville that starts tomorrow.  The issue: how much does a powerline diminish the value of a 400-acre ranch on the outskirts of Kerrville, Texas.  The property has over a mile of frontage on the Guadalupe River and is valued near $8M.

As you can imagine, the landowner (my client) and the LCRA have somewhat of a difference of opinion as to how much a high voltage transmission line hurts it.

We'll see.

Background: grid congestion and the need for increased transmission capacity

Good morning.  As I mentioned in the blog's opening post, time and the market will ultimately tell us whether or not wind energy can truly be a sustainable and viable electric power source in this state.  That debate is not the topic here.

I'm posting a link below to an enlightening article by Becky Diffen (a young lawyer in the Vinson and Elkins Austin office).  It is a long read but one I think you will find interesting.

Long-term viability notwithstanding, the wind farms are here.  As Ms. Diffen points out, if the area surrounding and including Sweetwater, Texas were its own country it would be seventh in the world in wind energy production capacity.  That's huge!  And that power has to get to market.  You'll read about how the Legislature is doing what it can to make sure the wind farm developers succeed.  No doubt there is a demand for the energy.

But, again, who is left in the middle?  Maybe it's you.  Or someone you know.

Enjoy.

Changes

I changed the name of this blog.  The previous name was, upon reflection, too long and not particularly good.

I'm finishing reading an interesting article on Competitive Renewable Energy Zones.  I'll have some new content soon!  Cheers.

Love is love and not fade away. . .Parker Ann Brooks at 14 months.

This has nothing at all to do with the topic.  My daughter, Parker, is about to turn 5.  Here's a video of her when she was about 14 months old.  Cheers.

The Constitution vs. Profit Motive

What on Earth do these two things have to do with each other?  As it turns out, probably not much. 

Chapter 21 of the Texas Property Code (and the cases that interpret it) sets out the procedures by which governmental and certain non-governmental entities (including some electric transmsision companies) may acquire private property through eminent domain.  Compensation must be paid.  In fact, the Constitution of the State of Texas sets out, in Article 1, Section 17, that "adequate" compensation be paid before private property is taken for public use.  Electric transmission utilities are, by and large, for-profit businesses.  They are motivate by good old-fashioned greed.  And who can blame them for that?  I don't do my job for free.  Neither do you.  That's not the issue.  So, how do electric transmission utilities approach the issue of adequate compensation to landowners (in light of their need to maximize profits)?  This is not a trick question.  If you guessed "by trying to buy property for as little as possible" (generally speaking), step up and claim your prize!

But, how?  I mean, we have a Constitution to prevent that, right?  Yeah.  Right.

Stay tuned.  In the coming weeks I'll discuss how the process is set up and how the transmission utilities discharge their obligation to offer and pay "adequate" compensation while not doing so at all.  Sound cynical?  Unfortunately, it does.  But that doesn't make it any less true. 

And so as to not sound so dour, I'll also talk about where the fight is -- and how it's won.

Have a great week!

What's in a name?

Before we get too far down this road, I should probably clarify something.

The URL for this blog is landgrabs.blogspot.com.  I suppose the term "landgrabs" could be construed as fairly inflammatory (I assure you that it isn't inflammatory enough for some folks).  We can debate until we are blue in the face about the the ultimate value of wind energy in our state, our country and the world.  Frankly, I'm content to let history decide whether or not it is a viable way to improve generation capacity to meet our growing energy demands.  In and of itself, it's pretty cool and fairly intuitive.  The wind blows hard enough, in some places, to generate electricity.  But that is only one aspect.

There is plenty of wind in West Texas.  There are plenty of people in the large urban areas who want to keep their homes cool and their pools running.  For the longest time, those two things had almost nothing to do with each other.  That's where "landgrabs" comes into play.  I'll write a lot on wind energy and how the state and federal legislatures have taken great measures to incentivize and incubate the industry.  I'll muse on green energy and how municipalities and utilities are feeling increasing popular demand that they include it in their portfolios.  But I will spend the most time addressing the issue of the people in the middle -- those landowners, large and small, in between who are being saddled with the burden of connecting the grid (and in too many cases, disproportionately so).  This is not to say that wind energy is, therefore, a bad thing.  It's not.  It's just a complex issue.

Again, welcome.  I hope you will follow along and engage in the discussion.  In the coming days and weeks I'll link to articles and sites I think will add depth to the discourse.

Now, go have a great Saturday!

Greetings!

Hi.  My name is Christian Brooks and I'm a lawyer from Austin, Texas.  My practice focuses on eminent domain and condemnation of private property rights.  I work on the side of the private property owner and am passionate about it.  I've decided to start this blog to share some of what I'm seeing resulting from the wind farms out in far west Texas and how they are creating infrastructure demands across the middle of our state to bring that power to market.  I hope you'll enjoy following this work in progress.