LANSING, MI (WTVB/WNWN) – Despite pushback from homeowners and environmental groups, the Michigan Public Service Commission Thursday approved a pair of new electric transmission lines in the central and southern Lower Peninsula.
The Helix-Hiple transmission line will run 55 miles from the Michigan-Indiana border in Gilead Township north through Branch County to the Helix Substation in Calhoun County.
A community meeting was held last month at the Girard Township Hall in Branch County to assist those against the project in submitting their objections to the MPSC.
With the commission’s approval, the state’s eminent domain power would authorize property condemnation proceedings to acquire rights to use private land for the transmission line. While the commission approved an alternative route for a transmission line in Gratiot and Eaton counties, for the Helix to Hiple line, the MPSC found the proposed route reasonable, saying the alternate route would have avoided impact to the R&R Ranch Airport but would result in more impacts on archeological sites, increase the number of residences within 500 feet of the line’s right of way, and expand the number of parcels crossed by the line.
In a news release, commission said it “found that both lines are needed to ensure increased energy reliability, capacity, and renewable energy integration, and that the project will not present an unreasonable threat to public health and safety.”
In May State Representative Jennifer Wortz of Quincy introduced a plan to guarantee property owners fair opportunities to challenge eminent domain for electric transmission lines.
Wortz says she proposed House Bill 4526 after hearing from several Branch County residents about a pending ITC Holdings transmission line project. Wortz says “Many local property owners, especially farmers, have expressed concerns about the proposed line running through their land”.
HB 4526 was referred to the House Committee on Energy for consideration.
Comments