DA decries Idaho Power’s court actions
By Terry Murry on Tuesday, March 1st, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
MORROW COUNTY – Idaho Power is now taking landowners in five Eastern Oregon counties to court demanding access to their properties for site evaluations even though the utility has not received Oregon’s approval for the 300-mile-long transmission line. Morrow County District Attorney Justin Nelson found out that at least eight of those court actions are happening in his county.
“The district attorney’s office is not involved in this,” Nelson said. “The county’s really not a party to this either. We’re outside of this. But I wanted the public to be aware of what’s happening.”
In civil actions, Idaho Power is demanding access to the property owners’ land for pre-construction surveys. The Stop B2H Coalition believes that there are no grounds for allowing the utility on private land since no site certificate has been issued for the 500 volt transmission line.
The line will carry electricity to Idaho. The power it carries will not be used by any Oregonians.
The coalition is urging Eastern Oregonians to express their concern about the action to Oregon Department of Energy Director Janine Benner at Janine.Benner@oregon.gov.
