By Mark Jaffe | The Colorado Sun
Xcel tried to condemn a 550-foot strip of Cheyenne County ranchland to connect two wind farms to a substation. The landowner objected to the route.
Xcel Energy’s bid to have the state Supreme Court weigh in on a dispute with a Cheyenne County landowner over a 550-foot right-of-way to connect wind farms to the Goose Creek substation was rejected by the court Monday.
In a brief unanimous decision, the court denied the utility’s attempt to have the state’s highest court overturn a Cheyenne County district judge’s ruling that Xcel Energy did not have the power to use eminent domain to acquire the right of way.
Xcel Energy argued that the case raised serious statewide issues on the future of clean energy policy in Colorado and sought writ of certiorari enabling the case to bypass the Colorado Court of Appeals.
“The case is of such imperative public importance as to justify the deviation from normal appellate processes and to require immediate determination in the Supreme Court,” the company argued.
The Colorado Energy Office and the Sierra Club submitted amicus briefs supporting Xcel Energy.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE COLORADO SUN