| Early in the last century, the Georgia legislature granted electric utilities nearly unfettered eminent domain rights to pursue their corporate goals in siting transmission projects. Since then a statewide grid of some 16,000 miles of power lines has been erected. In recent years, mounting citizen activism has brought public, media, and lawmakers' attention to the issue, yet it remains poorly understood, the voices of affected landowners largely unheard, and there has been no significant legislation to curb the power industry's use of eminent domain.;This case study consists of interviews with 10 Georgia landowners from a group of 6 couples that had concluded or were nearing conclusion of negotiations with a power company for a portion of their residential property. All the participants challenged the "taking." The Coordinated Management of Meaning, a social constructionist, systemic communication theory, was used to analyze the narratives, and to describe how and why this particular eminent domain pattern persists, the kinds of social worlds it creates, and the changes that should be made. The study, which also enters into public domain the previously unheard voices of Georgia landowners, contributes to two theoretical literatures, communication and narrative theory.;The findings reveal why the issue is so poorly framed; and how takings for transmission projects raise concerns about public health, affect economic welfare, and impact natural and cultural resources. This issue requires a systemic perspective because it extends across the social, economic, political, and ecological sectors. Landowners worry about the health effects of being in proximity to high power electric lines, and these corridors affect the cultural and ecological quality of surrounding land, all of which forever impact the land's value. Furthermore, landowners who pursue legal means to ensure just financial compensation bear a considerable economic and emotional burden. Finally, absent state oversight of transmission project planning and siting, little is known about the quantity, frequency, and overall character of these takings.;The stark incompatibilities between landowners' and power companies' contexts of meaning call for both legislative action and corporate culture reform. Appropriate legislation would bring the siting process under state agency supervision, thus rendering the process more transparent, and making the electric utilities accountable and more responsive to taxpayers. Proactive reform within the electric utility industry would broaden the definition of "stakeholder" in decision making processes, and would create more inclusive communication patterns based on mutual recognition and civic cooperation. |
