By the time you first find out about the project, the utility may have put in a year or more of work -- analyzing its situation, scouting out various possibilities, studying more intensively the most likely routes, negotiating with some key people, and holding public meetings in the neighborhoods affected. When it has decided what it wants to do, and where the top four or five alternative routes are, it files its case at the PUC. At about the same time, it sends out letters to several classes of people, and publishes general notice in area newspapers.
The way it is supposed to work, if you own land on the route, or own a habitable building within 200 feet of the proposed line, you must receive notice which includes a detailed map and description of the project. The names and addresses of "affected landowners," as they are called, come from the county tax records, and it is not unusual for some landowners to be missed. The deadline for intervention in the proceeding is 45 days after the date the application was filed with the commission. Even if the utility fails to give you notice, if you are an affected landowner you should write to the Commission as soon as you find out about the project, stating clearly whether you want to participate as an Intervenor, or just comment.
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