Wyoming committee OKs bill limiting private condemnation for energy collector systems after contested hearing

House Bill 91, which would bar private companies from using eminent domain to obtain rights-of-way for energy collector systems, advanced from the Agriculture, State & Public Lands & Water Resources Committee on a 6-3 roll-call vote.

The bill was introduced by Representative Eklund as a response to local opposition to previous collector-line projects and a prior moratorium on collection lines that had expired. Committee members and multiple witnesses debated whether the measure protects private property or unduly restricts development.

Supporters, including several ranchers and the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation, said the bill restores protections for landowners who do not want transmission or collector infrastructure crossing their property. Kelly Carpenter, policy advocacy director for the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation, testified that her organization’s membership “supports limiting entities … from being able to use the…