American Electric Power (“AEP”) has filed an AEP eminent domain lawsuit against several homeowners in Ross County, Ohio. The AEP eminent domain lawsuit is related to AEP’s ongoing Biers Run Substation project near Chillicothe, Ohio. Clark Perdue is defending an AEP eminent domain lawsuit filed against two Ross County homeowners.
The AEP eminent domain lawsuit is part of AEP’s ongoing efforts to construct and maintain a 69 kV electric transmission line extending approximately 4.5 miles from the Biers Run Station to a tap along the Ross-Highland 69 kV line in Ross County, Ohio. To complete this project, area homeowners may be served with an AEP eminent domain lawsuit, unless they agree to an easement and right of way with AEP.
When a property owner agrees to an easement and right of way, the owner allows the recipient of the easement (the “grantee”) to use the property for whatever purpose is not prohibited by the language of the easement. In the AEP eminent domain lawsuit, AEP seeks to rights to construct poles, towers, conductors, wires, cables, and all other equipment necessary to construct and operate a high-power transmission line. If a property owner agrees to give these rights to AEP, the property owner may find that her property is blocked, damaged or otherwise deprived of its beauty and value.
Ohio law provides that a property owner is entitled to reasonable compensation for loss of use and value to property that occurs because of an easement and right of way. In the Biers Run Station project, several property owners who have been unable to reach an agreement with AEP have been sued.
For an example of the AEP eminent domain lawsuit in the Biers Run Station project, please see the attached AEP eminent domain lawsuit. Please also see the answer filed by the homeowners.