'Its an invasion': Shelby County man pushes back against Alabama Power in property easement dispute

A man in Shelby County is fighting Alabama Power over rights to his own property.

Fenn Church calls it a David and Goliath situation. The giant here being Alabama Power.
They want access to his driveway and several other roads on his property. The utility is offering to pay for the easement, but the landowner said it’s not about the money; he just wants privacy, peace and quiet on his own property.

It’s 416 acres of old-growth trees, water and wildlife. It’s Church’s little slice of heaven where he’s building his last home.

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“It’s my dream house,” he said. “I never built anything. I just turned 60 in May and I said, if I’m going to build a house, we’ll build something nice and something that I can retire in, and that’s all I want to do. I just want to be left alone.”

But he claims Alabama Power is not leaving him alone. The utility company wants easements on his property, and they’re getting them through condemnation. They want 24-7 access to his driveways and other roads through his property. And Church said it wouldn’t just be Alabama Power.

“Now they’re going to sell that easement to any kind of telecommunications company, any cell towers, broadband service or fiber optic service,” he added. “So, I can have a dozen or more companies coming down this road and their employees 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It’s an invasion on my personal home.”

Church has some help from Washington, D.C.

Country music recording artist John Rich is President Trump’s envoy for American landowners. He reached out to Alabama Power leaders about the situation, but he said he was stonewalled and directed to attorneys instead.

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“He’s built himself a home that he wants to retire in after all of his hard work,” said Rich. “And now this is what he’s faced with, which is condemnation, eminent domain and basically what looks like to be the ransacking of his property if this actually goes through. It’s an unbelievably terrible situation.”

Church said he’d like the utility company to consider an alternate plan that would avoid his property and cut through timberland instead. He just wants to live a quiet life on his own property. Church said, “I’m trying to stand up for the core democracy of our country and our state. I’m doing this for myself, but if they can do this to me, they can do it to anyone.”

He has said this is not about the amount of money Alabama Power wants to pay for the easement; it’s about the traffic he doesn’t want on his land. He has said, if or when they try to access his driveway, he will stand at the gate in protest, saying they’ll have to arrest him or run him over to get through.

Alabama Power declined our request for an on-camera interview. They offered a statement saying, “Alabama Power is dedicated to meeting the state’s growing energy needs and providing reliable service for our customers. We understand that property is personal, and we’re committed to treating landowners fairly and respectfully throughout the planning and development of infrastructure projects.

Because this matter remains in litigation and the landowner is represented by counsel, we will not address the specifics of the dispute outside the judicial process.”

Leaders there also sent this information on the issue:

Project Purpose and Need

• Alabama Power began work on the Autaugaville-East Pelham 230 kV Transmission Line in the fall of 2021.
• The approximately 74-mile line is an addition to the company’s existing transmission system, designed to relieve loading on existing transmission facilities, improve the ability to move power between the Montgomery and Birmingham areas, increase operational flexibility, and support future electrical load growth in the region.

How the Route was Selected

• The route selection process began in early 2022. When evaluating potential routes, Alabama Power considers factors such as access, topography, existing land use, the number of angle points, line length, and environmental impacts, with the goal of identifying a feasible route that accounts for construction, operation, and maintenance of the line.
• To ensure routing is based on engineering principles only, the routing engineer is not provided property owner information before the line is routed.
• When a landowner proposes an alternative alignment – a route of accommodation, or ROA – Alabama Power reviews the proposal through a formal process consistent with Alabama law, and the review criteria are provided to the landowner. To protect neighboring properties, a proposed accommodation should enter and exit the requesting landowner’s property at the same locations as the existing route, must remain at least 100 feet from the property line of any property not otherwise affected, and may not alter the route on a neighboring property without that owner’s written consent. Because any turn in a transmission line adds length and creates an angle point – which can affect construction and maintenance, decrease reliability, and require guyed structures and additional right of way for support – proposals are also evaluated against those effects. If a proposal is determined to be potentially acceptable, Alabama Power prepares a conditional easement and performs a new survey and suitability studies before final approval; if it is declined, the landowner is notified in writing.

What Rights are Acquired

• Alabama Power acquires an easement – the right to construct, own, operate, and maintain the transmission line and its associated facilities on the property.
• Alabama Power does not acquire the land in fee: the landowner continues to own the land.
• Although Alabama Power acquires an easement rather than full ownership of the property, landowners are compensated for the rights acquired through a valuation process designed to ensure fair compensation.
• The landowner may continue to use the right of way in ways that do not conflict with Alabama Power’s ability to construct, operate, and maintain the line.
• Agricultural and farm use, residential lawns, pasture fencing with access gates, and hunting food plots are among the uses allowed within transmission rights of way; other uses require review with Alabama Power’s right of way specialists so potential issues can be addressed before a landowner makes an investment.