North Dakota landowners complained about eroding property rights and advocated for local government control Friday as they testified against a bill to take zoning decisions for electrical transmission lines away from local governments and give them to the state.
An Otter Tail Power Co. representative contended that two townships in Stutsman County passed highly restrictive zoning rules to stop a massive powerline project.
Darron Orr, who lives in one of the townships, disputed that. “It’s not about protesting a project, it’s protecting a home,” he said.
House Bill 1258 would take away zoning authority from townships and counties for transmission lines. Instead, the state would have that authority, similar to how rules are made for pipelines.
The bill had a hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, attracting a standing-room-only crowd with other opponents watching the livestream on their phones from the hallway.
Troy Coons, president of the Northwest Landowners Association, and Derrick Braaten, the group’s attorney, noted that a lawsuit over the pipeline language is pending in connection with the Summit Carbon Solutions project.
“We don’t know what that language means right now,” Braaten said. “It’s up to the courts.”
He said copying the questionable language would be bad policy-making and lawmakers should wait for a Supreme Court ruling.
If passed, the short-term effect of the bill would be paving the way for a large transmission line from Jamestown to Ellendale, known as the JETx line.
The state’s 500-foot setback from residences would be enforced statewide, through the Public Service Commission. The half-mile setbacks passed by the Stutsman County townships would be overruled.
The JETx line would go through the district of bill sponsor Rep. Mike Brandenburg, R-Edgeley, who said local governments and landowners take a risk by standing in the way of the state’s energy industry, which provides tax revenue that goes back to local governments.
“Do you want the authority or do you want the money?” Brandenburg asked.
The broader implication is setting the 500-foot setback for the whole state. Some local officials said the one-size-fits-all approach is unwise.
Charlie Sorenson is the chair of the Planning and Zoning Commission in Mountrail County. He said each county has its own long-range plan and zoning is a key part of that plan.
Committee chair Sen. Dale Patten, R-Watford City, asked Sorenson if a uniform statewide rule would be better than a patchwork of local regulations. Sorenson said no.
“My area is going to be different than the Red River Valley,” Sorenson said. “Zoning is local.”
Richard Schlosser of LaMoure County said the bill is another example of lawmakers chipping away at property rights and local control over several legislative sessions.
He wondered whether the high-voltage JETx powerline would interfere with his autosteer and other modern technology farmers have come to rely on in the field.
He and others noted that the PSC’s approval of the JETx powerline was not unanimous and questioned whether it was really needed.
Jason Weirs, a manager of transmission project development for Otter Tail Power Company, said the JETx line would increase reliability and prevent outages during ice storms, which has been a problem in the Jamestown area.
He said the large setbacks enacted by townships force powerlines away from roads, meaning they are more likely to be in the middle of the field, which some farmers don’t like. He said the setback can affect the route in a neighboring township in a negative way.
Orr countered that without the half-mile setback, a homeowner in his township would have had a large transmission tower near his home, with no compensation because it would not be on the property.
Orr said 500 feet doesn’t address the size and scope of these new high voltage transmission lines.
He said the ordinance allows the homeowner to grant a variance and perhaps be compensated, which he said is only fair.
With the larger setback, the homeowner “gets to be at the table,” he said.
The committee did not act on the bill. The bill passed the House on an 86-7 vote.
