Legal Trend: Private Companies Denied Eminent Domain.

A brewing legal dispute in Iowa highlights the momentum away from allowing eminent domain authority for pipelines, transmission lines, and other utilities that are privately owned. 

An Iowa Attorney:

“The larger issue — what it really comes down to — is whether these guys have the power of eminent domain. this is not a utility, it is not public, it is not providing any necessary public service. A number of other cases have rejected such eminent domain arguments — the Bluegrass Pipeline case in Kentucky, the Clean Line case in Missouri, and a West Virginia district court ruling on a natural gas pipeline. I think the courts have trended a bit toward the constitution as opposed to private interests.”

Spencer Daily Reporter