Tonbridge Power Inc. of Toronto, Canada, values the land, too, which is owned by Salois' 83-year-old mother, Shirley. The company plans to erect 90-foot-tall poles on the property as part of a 215-mile transmission line for electricity it is building from Lethbridge, Alberta, to Great Falls. The company has filed a condemnation complaint on the Salois land to gain access it says is needed for the greater good, but Larry Salois is digging in his heels. He disputes the claim that the project is in the public interest, and he isn't sure whether Tonbridge, which is a for-profit private company based in a foreign country, even has the right to condemn the land. "I'm going to do my best to keep 'em outside of the fence for as long as I can," Salois said. MATL is one of several large transmission lines being built statewide to meet growing demand from developers that want to tap Montana's renowned winds. They then want to send the green energy to larger markets across the West, fueled by federal stimulus funds and state tax breaks for renewable-energy projects. But producing wind energy, as opposed to using fossil fuels, also has big impacts, including the need for towering poles and power lines across private property to get the electricity from where it's produced to where it's used, Opper said...moreThe article also says:
The DOE announced in January that it was providing up to $30 billion in loan guarantees nationwide for renewable-energy projects, including $2 billion in loans for transmission projects. Tonbridge received a $161 million loan from that funding to help construct MATL...
The feds are subsidizing the condemnation of private property all in the name of renewable energy. Market forces aren't producing this outcome, government policy is.
Another property-grabbing virus set loose by the DC Deep Thinkers.
No comments:
Post a Comment