Eminent Domain Report

On May 11, Chapter 67 of the IRWA (Orange County) is hosting a half-day seminar focused on the interrelationship between renewable energy, right-of-way acquisitions, and eminent domain.  If tying renewable energy to eminent domain sounds like a bit of a stretch, you apparently haven't been following all the recent news about the struggle to entitle and build renewable energy projects.  Just yesterday, the White House Blog featured a profile on federal energy policies entitled Building a New Foundation for Energy and the Environment. 

Between the project facility itself and the right of way necessary to connect renewable energy projects to the grid, myriad eminent domain issues arise.  And, fights over energy projects in particular have made news lately in the ongoing battle over eminent domain reform.  Stories about eminent domain issues involving natural gas pipelines and wind farms have gone viral in the past six months -- and this is likely just the tip of the iceberg. 

The panel for May 11 includes a range of practitioners:

• David Kilpatrick, President of Kilpatrick Energy Group will speak first.  He will talk about our overall energy policy, dependence on foreign oil, and how (if at all) reliance on renewable energy can solve our energy issues.
• I will speak second about the legal intersection between renewable energy and eminent domain.  I will talk about some of the unique laws that allow utility companies (and, in particular, privately held utility companies) to condemn property for energy projects.  I will also talk about some of the legal issues that arise when trying to value a property both for energy projects themselves and when an energy use may qualify as the highest and best use for property being condemned for some other purpose.
• Elizabeth Kiley, President of Kiley Company, will speak third.  She will talk about various appraisal issues involved in renewable energy projects and right of way acquisitions for such projects.
• Finally, our lunch speaker will be Clifford Clement, Vice President, Land, for Third Planet Windpower, LLC.  Mr. Clement will walk us through a wind farm project, from concept, to entitlement, to construction, and, finally, to completion. 

If any of this sounds like it may impact your practice, please come spend the morning with us.  And, even if none of this sounds remotely interesting, come spend the morning anyway.  My colleague, Brad Kuhn (who is Chairing the Seminar), has worked hard to ensure attendees will receive four hours of credit for OREA, MCLE, and/or SR/WA. 

And, most importantly, if nobody shows up, I'll have to spend the morning talking to myself -- and while I do that on a regular basis, I try not to do it in public.  See you there.