Power struggle

HUNTLEY – The Kreutzer family has owned land in Huntley since 1868. Since 2008, they’ve been fighting to defend it.

The “Kreutzer Road Parties,” made of farm owners Frances Kreutzer and her sister-in-law Marie Caranci, Kreutzer’s daughter Linda Byrne and son-in-law William Byrne, want to stop Commonwealth Edison’s planned 138,000-volt transmission line from affecting their 265 acres of land on the road’s south side and 40 acres on its north side.

Part of the line – which runs through Kane and McHenry counties – would run along the south end of Kreutzer Road and force the historically preserved home on that end to be demolished and the family who pays rent on it to be relocated.

Com Ed does not have an estimate for the costs of demolition and relocation, but ensured they would cover all costs allowed by law.

Linda and William Byrne currently live in St. Charles, but have been trying to move back to Huntley for five years and build a home on the property. According to Byrne, the family has spent over $100,000 to protect their land from the power lines.

On May 16, the Kreutzer Road Parties filed their latest appeal to the Illinois Commerce Commission. The ICC’s opinion will be given by June 6. If the appeal does not pass through, the family will have to take it to the appellate court level.

ComEd initially offered $39,000 and $247,000 for the land on either side of the road – a value estimated by a third party appraiser, according to Arlana Johnson, ComEd communications manager, yet Byrne claimed ComEd wanted to get the property first and negotiate with the family later.

“They did not negotiate fairly,” he said. “They just said

‘this is what we’re going to take. This is our offer, take it or leave it.’”

The Kreutzer Road Parties won in Kane County Circuit Court in 2008 on Com Ed not negotiating in good faith, and won at the appellate level in 2010, during which ComEd changed its right of way size from 175 feet to 50 feet.

One of the biggest issues in discussion has been Huntley’s plans to widen Kreutzer Road from two to five lanes.

Though the expansion work has yet to begin, Huntley village manager Dave Johnson said it is on the village’s long-term transportation plan.

ComEd has not factored the widening of Kreutzer Road into their plans, as they have not heard any confirmed plans from Huntley on the project.

“We do not consider the road widening to be an obstacle,” Arlana Johnson said. “If the road is widened in the future, ComEd will manage the relocation of our facilities as required by the ICC.”
Three other routes were presented to Com Ed as alternatives to the Kreutzer Road route. The most expensive, at $13.30 million, would run along I-90 to the east side of Huntley Prime Outlets to Freeman Road.

The second would follow Freeman Road to Galligan Road and run to Dundee Road, where it would connect to an existing transmission line. The route was estimated at $9.19 million.

The final alternative route would run across Powers and Smith roads continuing along the east side of the Wing Pointe subdivision to Main and Haligus roads. At $8.61 million, this route was the cheapest.

“We understand that the Kreutzer Road route does affect some individuals, however, the ICC concluded that route was the best option because it offers the least overall impact to the community,” Arlana Johnson said.  

Byrne said the Kreutzer road has potential additional costs, including the demolition and relocation expenses as well as an expenses to move the poles if Kreutzer Road is expanded.

Huntley opposed using the Kreutzer Road route, claiming there would be impacts on nearby residential areas.

“There were also statements made that some of the development in Gilberts was farther along than [the] development that we have in our community and obviously we dispute that,” Dave Johnson said.

The Gilberts development referred to included The Conservancy, an unfinished subdivision by Neumann Homes. The developer finished two model homes in the neighborhood and went bankrupt in 2007.

“Those houses are condemned. That was supposed to be their big issue of ‘oh, there’s some big subdivision there.’ When we started this battle, that subdivision was already bankrupt,” Byrne said. “They knew that and they didn’t care.”

The ICC concluded the power lines are necessary to supply power to “maintain reliable service” to the area, according to Arlana Johnson.

“The population of the communities in the Huntley area have risen steadily over the last several years and that has led to new business and residential developments,” she said. “The increased need for new electrical infrastructure in the area is well established.”

Dave Johnson said Huntley has been disputing with Com Ed since the mid-1990s about power lines, but has been unsuccessful in deferring the construction of the lines to other areas.

“We’ve been burdened with it throughout the entire village and now they will make sure that’s the case here on the south end of the village as well,” he said.

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