FLOYD COUNTY, Ga. — A family-owned cattle farm says they’re fighting Georgia Power’s efforts to acquire some of their pastureland to build an electrical substation.
Kyle and Emily Newberry, who own the 70-acre farm in Silver Creek, say the substation would severely impact their operation and believe the utility company has other options.
They say they fulfilled a dream starting a cattle farm back in 2017 and have no plans to sell it.
They have fifty head of beef cattle, which help pay the bills and support their kids.
They feel Georgia Power is pressuring them to sell three to four acres of pastureland to build the substation that would tap into nearby transmission lines.
“(Three to four acres) doesn’t sound like a lot, but they want it situated … right where we are raising our cattle, our kids here. This is our home,” Emily Newberry said.
The couple say the power company told them they need to build a new substation to replace the old one down the road.
Kyle understands what Georgia Power as a former powerline worker of an EMC. But he says a substation sitting on their pasture will affect their cattle operation and property value.
“The value of the land will drop tremendously with the development of the station, the eyesore it promotes on a piece of property,” he said.
The couple says they worry if they don’t make a deal, the power company may seek to acquire it through eminent domain.
If we don’t accept an offer, they’re just going to take our land. We don’t want that to happen at all,” Emily said.
“We understand and appreciate this property owner’s concerns and are working to minimize disruption as we enhance and improve Georgia’s power grid,” Georgia Power said in a statement. “This substation is a critical project to ensure reliability in the area for thousands of customers.”
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]