NC Court Limits Utilities’ Power

RALEIGH — A recent N.C. Supreme Court ruling limits the power of utilities to make large-scale changes to their distribution systems on private land without explicit approval. Haywood County landowner Steve Singleton had sued the local Electric Membership Corporation after it responded to a fallen power line during an ice storm. The EMC repairs resulted in a low-hanging line, a number of downed trees, and the pruning of his apple orchard. The Court concluded that Singleton had not agreed to the work and that allowing such a precedent could lead to uncompensated “takings” of private land without compensation.