ComEd dealt setback in power line case

A recent appellate court ruling complicates ComEd's efforts to expand its transmission network in the far Northwest suburbs.

The Second District Illinois Appellate Court has ruled against the electric utility in the long-running dispute over whether ComEd can build transmission lines through Huntley.

The ruling, though, is not necessarily a defeat for the utility. Instead, it appears ComEd will have to get more specific about exactly where it wants to put its utility poles.

Huntley officials and residents fought ComEd's plans to place transmission lines in the village for more than a year, arguing the lines would interfere with future development and transportation plans.

But in the fall of 2008, the Illinois Commerce Commission ruled in favor of ComEd's transmission line route. Since then, ComEd has completed a portion of its planned expansion, installing 61 new utility poles along Interstate 90.

The utility could not start on the portion that runs through town, however, until it had acquired all of the land it required through negotiation or eminent domain. As of last year, ComEd only had about half of the land it needed.

The appellate court ruling likely will push the project back even further. While not questioning the need for an expanded transmission network, the ruling says the Illinois Commerce Commission, in granting ComEd the right to use eminent domain, did not adequately identify the property ComEd is seeking to acquire - or even which side of Kreutzer Road it would need for its lines.

"There was literally no evidence to explain why ComEd sought in particular a margin of 175 feet from the centerline (of Kreutzer Road)," the Sept. 16, 2010 decision reads.

The decision sends the case back to the Illinois Commerce Commission, which will likely work with ComEd to make the language more specific.

"We're pleased the appellate court did recognize the need for this project," ComEd spokesman Jeff Burdick said. "We will work with the ICC to provide all additional clarification regarding the location of transmission lines along Kreutzer Road."

ComEd is still working to acquire the property it needs through Huntley and hopes to complete the project by the end of 2012, Burdick said.

Frances Kreutzer, one of the property owners who is named on the lawsuit challenging the commerce commission's decision, declined to comment.