Idaho Power rules affect landowners along Brownlee

Landowners along Brownlee Reservoir whose homes, sheds or fences encroach on Idaho Power property within 8 feet of the high water line will have to move the structures or pay a $100-per-year lease fee starting this year.

Gil Green, senior real estate specialist with Idaho Power, said the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ordered the removal of mobile homes and other movable structures off the property along Brownlee Reservoir purchased by the power company decades ago for erosion control, wildlife habitat and public access, as part of its operating license for Brownlee Dam.

Brownlee, Oxbow and Hells Canyon dams are part of the Hells Canyon Complex of hydroelectric projects with a combined capacity to generate more than 1,166,900 kilowatts of electricity.

Construction of Brownlee Dam and power plant was completed in 1959, forming a 58-mile-long reservoir on the Snake River. 

Green said Idaho Power has been communicating with landowners for several years about encroaching buildings, but a July order from FERC is the strongest edict yet calling for the removal of those structures.

That order says Idaho Power would be considered out of compliance with its operating license for Brownlee Dam if the company fails to deal with the problem, Green said.

Through negotiations with landowners and consultations with FERC officials, Green said Idaho Power has come up with a plan to pay landowners $30 per square foot for easily movable structures such as mobile homes, sheds and outhouses.

 For permanent homes built on foundations that are not easily moved, Green said Idaho Power has authority to sign 10-year leases costing landowners $100 a year for that portion of their homes within eight feet of the high water line.

Stephanie McCurdy, communications specialist with Idaho Power, said the company owns the land eight feet above the high water mark, or spillway elevation of Brownlee Dam, which is 2,085 feet.

Since that strip of land was never clearly marked, McCurdy said landowners have inadvertently placed some homes, mobile homes, garages, sheds and fences so they extend onto Idaho Power property.

“The Hells Canyon Complex is a federally licensed project and Idaho power must comply with FERC’s orders, including those regarding structures on project land,” McCurdy said.

Green said most of the affected properties are in Baker County and Malheur County, within 15 to 20 miles of Huntington.

He said Idaho Power earlier sought to grant conservation easements to landowners with structures encroaching on Idaho Power’s land, but FERC nixed that idea.

An earlier Idaho Power plan to sell private property owners the land they inadvertently built on was also rejected, Green said.

McCurdy said the $30 per square foot offer to pay landowners for structures that have to be moved is “a generous and fair solution.”

“The structures are there without clearly established legal rights, and this is a good solution to eliminating the non-compliant structures,” McCurdy said. “Compensation is a fair way to resolve the issue because Idaho Power has allowed the unauthorized structures to remain until this point.”

Boat docks will continue to be permitted with a special use permit, she said.

However, she said if property owners fail to comply, Idaho Power will be forced to go to court and law enforcement for assistance in removing the property.

“This is not our preferred method of doing business,” she said.

For landowners with permanent homes that can’t be easily moved, McCurdy said the 10-year lease is intended to provide an affordable option.

“If property owners can demonstrate to the satisfaction of Idaho Power that the structures cannot be moved, the owner will have the option to sign a lease with Idaho Power for use of company land,” according to a statement from Idaho Power. “The lease will contain all FERC requirements — including a non-transferability clause — which are non-negotiable.”