The setting sun silhouettes transmission lines in Boardman in February 2022 near the planned future starting point of Idaho Power's proposed 300-mile Boardman to Hemingway transmission line, which is slated to cross through Baker County.

Attorneys for Idaho Power Company filed five more condemnation lawsuits this week seeking permanent easements across private property for the Boardman-to-Hemingway power line the company wants to finish in 2027.

The five suits filed on Wednesday, Oct. 16, in Baker County Circuit Court bring the total to 11 suits.

Attorneys Tim Helfrich and Zach Olson of Ontario filed the suits.

Also known as eminent domain, condemnation is a legal process in which a judge or jury orders a property owner to sell land, or an easement, to make possible a particular project, and decides the price.

Eminent domain lawsuits can be filed by public agencies, such as a state department of transportation to acquire land for a highway or other project, or, as in this case, by a private firm.

Complaints filed on Oct. 16:

• Property owner: Dan Dunn.

Idaho Power has offered $149,000 for permanent easements for the power line and access road and a temporary easement for construction.

The property is near Highway 86 at the base of Flagstaff Hill about two miles east of Interstate 84. The easements would total about 15 acres.

• Property owner: Harrell Hereford Ranch

Idaho Power has offered $26,420 for easements totaling about 21 acres. The property is in the same area as the Dunn parcel.

• Property owner: M.R. King Ranches

Idaho Power has offered $25,760 for easements totaling about 31.5 acres. The property is just north of I-84 between Pleasant Valley and Durkee.

• Property owner: Mark and Savannah Kerns

Idaho Power has offered $26,070 for easements totaling about 30.4 acres. The property is on the east side of Baker Valley, south of Highway 203.

• Property owner: Heritage Ranch LLC

Idaho Power has offered $112,820 for easements totaling about 65 acres north of Highway 86 near Sunnyslope Road.

The first condemnation for Baker County property was filed in September 2023 for a parcel near Interstate 84 about five miles southeast of Baker City.

B2H history

The 293-mile-long line, first proposed in 2007, will run from near Hermiston to the Hemingway substation in Owyhee County, Idaho.

Oregon and Idaho state agencies have approved construction of the power line. Idaho Power and its partner, PacifiCorp, say the line is needed to handle growing demand for electricity that existing transmission lines can’t accommodate.

Although Idaho Power has overseen the project, PacifiCorp has a 55% ownership in the line, Idaho Power 45%.

Opponents, led by the Stop B2H Coalition, based in La Grande, dispute the companies’ claims that the power line is needed.

Jim Kreider of La Grande, a member of STOP, said the group has urged Idaho Power to rebuild the three existing transmission lines from Oregon and Washington into the Hells Canyon Complex (Brownlee, Oxbow and Hells Canyon dams), and rebuild all lines from the complex into Idaho.

Kreider said public utility commissions in Oregon and Idaho have not required Idaho Power to include that proposal in the company’s biannual integrated resource plan.

Kreider said STOP is also advocating that all new transmission lines be buried, rather than suspended on poles as with B2H and other traditional designs.

The opponents say the construction and operation of B2H could cause a variety of problems, including spreading noxious weeds and increasing the risk of wildfire.