SF0087

Establishes a prescriptive easement for electricity delivery by electric utilities that have used and maintained a delivery system for at least five years under specified conditions.

• Defines key terms including 'delivery' (distribution or transmission of electricity), 'electric utility' (persons authorized to do business in Wyoming primarily engaged in generation, transmission, or sale of electric energy, excluding city/town-owned utilities), 'electricity user' (persons receiving electricity from a public utility), 'public utility', and 'system' (physical structures conveying electricity). (W.S. 34-1-159(a))
• Establishes that a prescriptive easement for an electric utility's delivery system is created if the utility has used and maintained the system for at least five continuous and uninterrupted years, above ground or clearly marked if underground, without written consent from property owners, and in the public interest. (W.S. 34-1-159(b))
• Requires the holder of a prescriptive easement to provide written notice to the landowner at least 30 days before recording the easement, with notice effective upon mailing or hand delivery. (W.S. 34-1-159(c)(i))
• Allows recording of a notice describing the prescriptive easement in the county clerk's office in the county where the easement is located. (W.S. 34-1-159(c)(ii))
• Grants the easement holder the right to access, use, maintain, replace, rebuild, change, or repair the delivery system and remove incompatible vegetation, including temporarily removing landowner infrastructure after providing at least 72 hours written notice for maintenance affecting ingress or egress. (W.S. 34-1-159(c)(iii))
• Requires that temporary removal of landowner's infrastructure be reasonable and minimize burden on the landowner, with the easement holder responsible for timely replacement or payment for replacement and compensation for direct monetary damages to the landowner. (W.S. 34-1-159(c)(iii)(A)-(B))
• Specifies that the width of a prescriptive easement shall be based on the size of the delivery system's physical structures and industry standards, sufficient for operation and maintenance equipment, measured from the center line of the delivery system but variable to account for safe and efficient operation.