Vaughan & Evans Wins Constitutional Fight Against EMC
The Superior Court of Bartow County has ruled that the Amicalola Electric Membership Corporation's ("AEMC") practice of requiring its members to surrender property rights in exchange for electric service violates the United States Constitution and the laws of the state.
AEMC was using its position as the sole provider of electrical services within portions of ten north Georgia counties to force its members to agree to bylaws that conditioned electrical service upon a member giving to the cooperative, without charge, a right of way easement over the entire property of the member. Amicalola claimed that its bylaws gave it the right to run electrical lines anywhere on a member's property it wished without first getting a specific easement for that purpose or paying the landowner for the land encumbered by the lines. The Court found that this provision of the bylaws violated the U.S. and Georgia constitutions as well as other state laws. It enjoined Amicalola from forcing land owners to give up their property rights as a condition of receiving power.
"What Amicalola was doing violated over two hundred years of American law," says Don Evans, one of the lawyers involved in the challenge. "It's outrageous for Amicalola to use its monopoly over electrical service to impose rules and regulations that violate the law and take member's property without paying just and fair compensation." he said. "We are glad the court has put an end to this abusive practice" "The days when an EMC could run roughshod over the property rights of citizens in this state are thankfully drawing to an end" said Mr. Evans.
"We believe the court's order will have far reaching implications," said Carlos González, a partner in the Vaughan & Evans law firm, "for the future operation of not only the Amicalola EMC, but for EMC's across the state." "These land grab practice have been going on for decades throughout the state" said Mr. González. "With this order, those practices should end and the rights of Georgians to be secure in their property again protected," he said.
