The federal government is preparing to take, potentially by eminent domain, a swath of private property in three southeastern Colorado counties spanning from five to 15 miles in width as part of the National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (NIETC). In all, private property owners stand to lose control of 325,000 acres, taking homes and productive agriculture land out of production and off the local tax roles. The comment period to oppose this egregious overreach is Feb. 14 and as of Feb. 6, as I’m writing this, only eight comments have been submitted. Eight.

I’m not sure whether this speaks more loudly to the lack of voice those in rural areas have due to low population numbers, or the failure of the Department of Energy to properly notify those affected. It has not been the “robust public engagement” promised in multiple documents and infographics. To my knowledge, none of the Colorado Congressional delegates have been contacted by the DOE, though they need to waste no time in demanding a longer comment period.

Prowers, Baca and Kiowa are the three counties affected in Colorado, though this same line spans an additional 2 million acres in New Mexico. There is a second NIETC proposed in parts of Nebraska and the Dakotas and a third across northern Pennsylvania and Lake Erie. These three projects are the three remaining of 10 original project sites. Of the original 10, the three are comprised of the most rural, least populated areas. Can’t you just imagine a federal bureaucrat pointing to the southeast corner of Colorado and saying, “Put ‘em there… no one lives there anyway.”

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Baca County has a population of 3,344, Kiowa County has 1,384, and Prowers County, where Lamar is located, has 11,751. Prowers County has more than 1 million acres in ag production and the county’s $310.05 million market value of ag products sold is about 4% of state agriculture sales. Kiowa County has 1.12 million acres in ag production and boasts $80.48 million in ag products sold annually, about 1% of the state’s total. Baca County has 1.47 million acres in ag production and sells $114.08 million in ag products, contributing 2% of state ag sales. I’m no economist, but $504 million in ag sales keeps the doors of many taxpayer-funded entities in those communities open. Protecting private property rights will require a more coordinated effort.

According to a white paper by Landmark Resource Firm, NIETCs were proposed by the federal government to address the congestion to the U.S. power grid as a result of the Biden administration’s goal to de-carbonize the U.S. economy. They are meant to connect massive new construction of wind and solar facilities to the power grid by crossing wide swaths of private land via the federal power of eminent domain.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 amended the Federal Power Act (FPA) in order to give Department of Energy broad discretion to establish NIETCs so the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) can permit interstate electric transmission facilities. On Dec. 15, 2022, FERC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to amend its existing regulations for permits to site interstate electric transmission facilities. According to Landmark, the Infrastructure Act amendments to FPA “questionably expanded DOE’s authority to establish National Corridors to include geographic areas that are expected to experience such constraints or congestion.” The $2.5 billion Transmission Facilitation Program can be accessed by the designation of NIETCs would allow DOE to enter into public-private partnerships to co-develop transmission projects within NIETCs.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, in some instances, has the authority to issue federal permits for transmission facilities located within NIETCs where state siting authorities have not acted on an application to site a transmission project for over one year, or have denied an application. This, according to the New Mexico Renewable Energy Transmission and Storage Study published in 2020, may include the transmission developer gaining the ability to obtain rights-of-way by exercising the right of eminent domain.

According to the DOE, “there is no particular height, width, or number of lines” for any of the NEITCs, so affected landowners will have to take a wait-and-be-surprised approach. There is also the opportunity for public-private cooperative projects within the NIETC so there’s no guardrails on potential projects within the exceedingly wide swath.

At the Jan. 9 CPW Commission meeting, the Colorado Energy Office presented an overview of climate priorities and the work toward the clean energy goals that prompted the need for NIETCs. James Lester, chief executive advisor, spoke to the proposed site in Colorado and said the process doesn’t allow the federal government to “just come in and install a transmission line,” but is a process “meant to remove some of the barriers that a private developer or utility would have to build that.” If by barriers, he means private property owners and their rights, then we’re on the same page.

The New Mexico House representatives sent a letter to their five congressional delegates opposing what they call “the DOE’s intention to unilaterally acquire state and private land for the purpose of establishing renewable energy transmission lines.” The group requested the delegation “take every action possible to halt the federal land grab” and requested House and Senate committees of jurisdiction hold oversight hearings. That letter was sent in July 2024, illustrating how far behind the curve Colorado is in opposing the NIETC. Two New Mexico counties have also created a cooperating agreement to push for a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process that is comprehensive, well-informed and reflective of local priorities.

County commissioners in Barton and Brown counties (Kansas) minced no words about their staunch opposition to the Federal Energy Regulation Commission’s authority to override decisions made by state regulators and the use of eminent domain. Colorado residents who value private property rights and recognize the importance of agriculture, must submit comments on the Federal Register prior to Feb. 14. It’s a real sweetheart of a proposal.

Rachel Gabel writes about agriculture and rural issues. She is assistant editor of The Fence Post Magazine, the region’s preeminent agriculture publication. Gabel is a daughter of the state’s oil and gas industry and a member of one of the state’s 12,000 cattle-raising families, and she has authored children’s books used in hundreds of classrooms to teach students about agriculture.