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Right of Way Utility Easement
Landowners are being treated poorly by the utility companies. This is primarily because of the protections granted to utilities by the federal and state governments and the ignorance of most landowners regarding utility easement issues.
Steel in the Air and Spencer Champion know why these disparities exist in the utility easement industy and how to confront them.
One thing led to another and the Right of Way Utility Easement website was created to give landowners a resource to level the playing field.
Right of Way Easements
What are "right of way easements"?
The term "right-of-way" is often used interchangeably with "easement". But more specifically, the term refers to a right granted after an easement agreement has been negotiated or taken through condemnation proceedings. A right of way is a legal right of another party to use your property for a specific purpose. The specific purposes are agreed upon beforehand during an easement negotiation. The right of way easement agreement terms and rights vary greatly, but in most cases the agreement would allow a company to enter or cross your property in order to install, inspect, operate and maintain equipment located on or crossing through your property. Most rights-of-way are considered to extend along, across, below and above the easement.
What types of easements can your company assist me in negotiating?
The most common right of way request involves the placement of power transmission or power distribution lines. Accordingly, most easements involve a negotiation with an electric or power company. However, there are other types of private and public companies that may need access across your land. Depending on the situation, we may be able to assist you with easement negotiations involving pipelines, gas lines, fiber optics communication easements, and other right of way easement requests. The negotiation process during these other types of easement agreements is similar to what happens during power line negotiations; there will be a survey request, easement negotiation, and a possibility of condemnation. Please see our other articles for a more detailed description of the right-of-way procurement process. Below are a few common types of lines requiring an easement agreement:
- Pipeline Right of Ways: Companies use pipelines to carry various refined petroleum products. For safety reasons, pipelines are preferred over vehicular transportation on highways and railways.
- Gas Line Right of Ways: Natural gas companies require vast stretches of land in order to transport nearly a quarter of the nation's energy. Interstate lines are generally buried underground and require an easement at least 50 feet wide. Compensation is typically based on length, not width.
- Fiber Optic Lines Right of Ways: Fiber-optic communication is able to transmit large amounts of information by sending pulses of light through an optical fiber. This technology is being used more and more by telecommunication and cable companies in order to transmit telephone signals, internet service, and cable television signals.
There are certain exceptions, risks, and stipulations associated with each of these types of right of way or easement requests. Please contact us so we can discuss your options during the easement process. The sooner you call, the more prepared you will be when the time comes to negotiate an easement across your property. The initial call is free and we will give you a candid assessment of whether we believe our services will be beneficial to you. We won't share how much your right of way should be worth, but we will give you our opinion of whether you will likely receive enough additional compensation to justify what it would cost for us to do the assessment.
Useful Links: An Interstate Natural Gas Facility on My Land? (pdf)