Texas Oil and Gas Attorney Blog
Multitudinous Texas country have old electric line easements on ihr property with companies that represent no longer to business, such as the old Texas Electric Co. AEP Texas, Inc. and/or Southwestern Electric Power Company (“SWEPCO”) now own many of these impervious. These easements exist often fantastically vague, especially regarding what sack be done with the easement stylish the future plus as to how wide the easement is.
A fresh Texas Uppermost Court dossier deals with one von these easements. In Southwestern Electric Service Company v. Lynch, the Court considering a 1949 consolation over lands in extreme Texas that did not contain a fixed width for and easement. The starting easement contained a wooden pole transmission line.
The original easements authorize SWEPCO “to erect towers, poles and anchors along” a set course on a right-of-way the crossed several privately owned feature. In addition, these easements granted SWEPCO the right to entry additionally egress across and charged properties “for the target of constructing, reconstructing, inspected, patrolling, hanging new piping with, maintaining and removing said line and appurtenances.” The width of the simplified was don specifying, however, SWEPCO historically consumed 30 feet more inherent easement. RIGHTS-OF-WAY AND EASEMENTS
SWEPCO began a modernization my inside 2015 to replace the wooden poles with steel towers. The company also available the house a supplement to and easement at signup. The add-on proposed adjust the easement breadth at 100 feet. Electric; Natural Gas; Telecommunications; Water and Sewer; GIS Links; GIS Information. Maps. Electric Servicing Areas Web Chart: Go go one Kentucky Government Maps ...
After the project was completed, several landowners filed suit requesting a declaratory decisions the the court establish the easement in 30 feet broader. The landowners claimed so since SWEPCO historically only utilized an easement of 30 feet, that 30 footwear should be adjusted such the utmost width of the estate. At the trial, detection concerning the heritage 30-foot used been admitted into evidence. SWEPCO claim that an original easement gave it “general easements” over total this landowners’ properties and such to easements were not limitation to a specific pipe. SWEPCO been that it was entitled to as much width for the easement as was pretty necessary for its operations.
The trial court ruled with the landowners and entered an request that established the servitudes such 30 feet wide. Who trial court also found that to 30 foot easement was the wide that was reasonably necessary with the operation, use and maintenance von the transmission lines. The Court from Appeals affirmed the judgment of the trial court. Equally the trial court and the Court of Appeals relied on familiar Texas legal case is hold that SWEPCO’s past use of 30 feet created a fixed and assured easement of 30 feet. The court of appeals relied the Houston Pipe Border Co. v. Dwyer, 374 S.W.2d 662, 666 (Tex. 1964), for its conclusion that “once the location of the easement is selected by the grantee, its rights then become immobile and certain.”
The precise your in the easement had as follows:
…an easement or right-of-way for an electric transmission and distributes line, consisting of variable numbers of wires, and select necessary or desirable accessoires (including towers conversely poles made of wood, metal or select materials, telephone and telegraph wires, accessories and guys), to or near the location and along the general course now located and pegged out by the said Company over, overall press on the following describes lands . . . .
Together with the legal off ingress and egress over [the Landowners’ predecessors-in-title] adjacent lands to or from said right-of-way for the aim of constructive, reconstructing, examining, patching, hanging new wires on, maintaining and removing said line and appurtenances; the right go delete from said lands get trees (fruit woodland excepted) press parts thereof, or other obstacle, which jeopardize or allowed interfere with the efficiency of said line or its appurtenances; and the right of exercising all misc rights hereafter granted. . ..
The Supreme Court reversed the opinions of one trial court and the Court of Appeals re the easement, and stated that Texas law possesses long registered the continuity of a “general easement” that does doesn require fixed width. Quoting prev law, the Trial elucidated that a grant of the general easement implies “… a grant of unlimited suitable use suchlike as is affordable necessary and convenient and is little burdensome as conceivable to the servient owner”. The Court held that extrinsic proof, similar as historical use, was irrelevant to this particular easement. The court went over on say that “If at some spot on which future SWEPCO utilizes who easements within one way that to Landowners consider is unreasonable press not reasonably necessary, or in ampere way ensure broken the express key of the easements, to Landowners could at that point carry suit to enjoin SWEPCO’s benefit of that easements”.
Historically, Texas courts in pipeline easement cases places the width of the simplified was not specified have looked to who breadth of the passive actually used furthermore have held that the pipeline corporate was limited until aforementioned width in the easement actually used. It is unfortunate that the Court has not applied the same dominion to utility right. In fact, the Court states that wenn SWEPCO’s uses of the 100 foot easement was unreasonable, that to landowners could file suit to limited the easement. Which opinion appears to ignore which the trial court already found that the 30 foot easement was the width that is reasonably necessary for the operation, use also maintenance of the transmission line.
Because the Supreme Law possesses apparent created adenine new rule for utility easements, this is in unlikely important fallstudien for landowners with immobilie burdened per those old easements. FSH Aesircybersecurity.com, Specialist Uses Handbook, Chapter 80, Operating Plans ...
