Elbert County residents continue fight over Xcel power lines in Colorado: "We will only reap damage"

Elbert County neighbors have spent years fighting Xcel Energy, and it's not even their utility. Residents say they're exhausted, scared, and furious as Xcel works to push ahead with a transmission project that would cut directly through their land.

Residents along the proposed Power Pathway route are still battling the utility over a segment of the 550-mile transmission line that would cross Elbert County. More than 50 people spoke against the project at a public hearing on Tuesday in Kiowa.

Commissioners denied Xcel's local permit in June, but the company is now appealing to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC), which will make the final decision.

That ruling isn't expected until April 2026.

Elbert County does not receive electricity from Xcel Energy. The utility maintains that the project will bring economic benefits to rural communities through tax revenue, lease payments, and jobs.

"We will reap no benefit from this," neighbor Tim Patzkowsky said. "We will only reap damage."

Tim and Peggy Patzkowsky have lived on their Elbert County property for more than two decades.

"I have heart problems. That's how stressful this has been," Tim said. "Did you hear the woman behind me? She lost her husband because of this. He had an aneurysm shortly after getting an email in 2021 because of this."

Just a few rows ahead, resident Don Gray has lived in Elbert County for nearly 29 years. 

Under Xcel's proposed route, a transmission tower would sit 75 feet from his front door.

"When people hear power lines, they think telephone poles," Gray said. "These are towers. 150-foot monsters."

Property value is a concern. He said Xcel's land agents told residents that clear-cut trees "have no value" and insisted property values wouldn't decline. According to Xcel, "based on the third-party real estate appraiser analysis, the proximity of a transmission line to properties without an easement does not affect property value. This outcome has been regularly studied by Xcel Energy over the last decade and has been repeatedly demonstrated."

"We're not opposed to the project. We're not opposed to the energy getting to the Front Range. We're opposed to the pathway," he said. "They've been trying to bully landowners. Every conversation ends with eminent domain."

In a statement to CBS Colorado, Xcel wrote: "In certain circumstances, we use condemnation authority to acquire property rights as consistent with Colorado statutes and local codes, which themselves recognize that for large right-of-way projects that cross hundreds of landowners, the use of condemnation authority is appropriate to ensure no single landowner may prevent critical infrastructure from being built. Condemnation is a last resort after we've made every reasonable effort to work with landowners."

The Power Pathway project was approved by the PUC in 2022, and portions are already under construction.

"Despite over four years of collaboration with local officials, landowners, and other stakeholders, Elbert and El Paso County Commissioners have denied the necessary permits for the project," the statement said.

Xcel warned that the counties' denials "jeopardize the timely and cost-effective completion" of the statewide project, which must move quickly for Colorado's clean-energy resources to qualify for federal tax credits.

The company has appealed to the PUC to move forward with the proposed route and also filed an appeal in the district court "to protect our statutory authority to provide safe, reliable and economical electricity."

For Tim, the struggle goes deeper than property values. He bought his land after feeling a pull the first time he stepped on it.

"I heard the land speak to me," he said. "It reached up and took me in its arms and said, 'Welcome home.' My land is sacred. Every bit as sacred as my wife."

The couple has already made plans for what will happen to their property after they're gone.

Their land will be donated to Hugo Hospital.

"We don't have children. We want everything to go to that rural hospital," Peggy said. "We will stand up for this."

The hearing ended with no immediate action. The final word now rests with the PUC.