Indians, energy firms battle over R-O-W leases on tribal lands

April 19, 2006

The energy industry will pay fair market rates for rights-of-way across American Indian lands, but some tribes want exorbitant fee hikes, energy representatives said Tuesday.

At a federal meeting on right-of-way rates across Indian land, Meg Hunt of the Edison Electric Institute said 75 percent of the member firms were unhappy with leases negotiated since 2000.

"Our companies believe in fair compensation, but the tribes are seeking 10 times the fair market value," Hunt claimed. Edison is an association of electrical companies and energy associates.

Some of the new leases replace 20-year-old and 50-year-old agreements with tribes for power transmission lines, oil and gas pipelines, access roads and other facilities.

Lisa Cameron of the FAIR Coalition, which represents energy companies with Indian land rights-of-way, said tribal demands could increase costs to consumers.

"In 20 years of negotiations with energy companies, this is the first time I have ever heard any discussion of benefits to consumers," said Bob Zahradnik, of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe Growth Fund.

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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/cda/article_print/0,1983,DRMN_23914_4632106_ARTICLE-DETAIL-PRINT,00.html

actually asking for just compensation? mad because the energy companies have probably been screwing them over all this time, and now they won't put up with it? wonder what the energy companies consider "fair market value" and what actually IS fair market value.

Said the wise man, "Their talk about protecting consumers is baloney."

Thanks, NV!

The Utility Companies already have wires strung, etc.

Land is a difficult thing to buy & sell at 'market value', because it's a monopoly. It's prices don't work exactly right. Now that the wires are strung, the Ute could charge a ransom to for the power companies to use their own wires.

I would be very curious to see what the fair market value actually was.

If we all stayed on our ancestral tribal lands, Africa would be pretty crowded.