The proposed Boardman-to-Hemingway power line would follow the route of an existing line that crosses state Highway 86 near Baker City.

Idaho Power Company is asking a judge to order the owners of five Baker County properties to allow the company to survey their land as part of its plan to build a major electric transmission line through Northeastern Oregon starting as early as 2023.

Attorneys representing Idaho Power filed civil petitions regarding the properties in December in Baker County Circuit Court.

The utility has been working since 2007 on the Boardman-to-Hemingway project, a 293-mile, 500-kilovolt line that would run from near Boardman, Oregon, to Hemingway, Idaho, southwest of Boise.

Although sections of the proposed route run through public property — Idaho Power has received permission from the federal government to do so — the line, as proposed, would also cross several dozen parcels of private land in multiple counties, including Baker, Union, Wallowa and Morrow in Oregon.

Idaho Power would have to pay private landowners for an easement to build the power line across their property. This would be a one-time payment, not an annual lease, according to the boardmantohemingway.com website.

Sven Berg, a corporate communications specialist for Idaho Power, said the line would affect about 30 private landowners in Baker County, who combined own about 60 separate parcels.

Savannah Gyllenberg said she and her husband have lived on their property for about 7½ years. She said they received packages from Idaho Power a few months ago with forms to sign granting the company access, but the couple haven’t had time to review the documents.

Gyllenberg said an existing Idaho Power transmission line crosses their property, and they have never objected to company workers entering the property to maintain the line.

In each petition, Idaho Power states that either the company or its contractor has contacted the property owners several times to request access. The owners have not granted Idaho Power access to the properties.

Berg said the company needs access to the properties to do a variety of surveys, and according to the court petitions, the work is necessary to comply with federal and state permitting and siting requirements.

“We prefer to work directly through landowners, and we encourage people (who are respondents in court filings) to contact us as soon as they can,” Berg said. “We much prefer to handle it out of court. We don’t want to force the issue in court.”

Berg said the owners of about 65% of the private land in Baker County that are along the line’s proposed route have given Idaho Power access for surveys and inspections.

Of the remaining 35%, most have not responded to the company’s requests, he said.

Two property owners have denied access to their land, Berg said.

He declined to say whether either of those property owners is among the five that are the subject of the company’s current court petitions.