WORTHINGTON - Five years ago, Xcel Energy was trying to build a transmission line in Polk County, Wis., through the pristine St. Croix Valley.

John Reinhardt said company officials came to his home and told him they would build the Chisago transmission line through his land, cut standing timber and stack up the trees like cordwood.

What's more, they told him there was little he could do about it, he claimed.

"They said they were going to take five acres of our land and clear cut it," Reinhardt said. "They said they were going to take the logs and stack them and we couldn't have any of them."

Since then, Reinhardt and his wife, Laura, have been a thorn in the side of the energy giant, championing the rights of landowners to defend themselves against the taking of their property through eminent domain proceedings.

Their five acres, across the Minnesota border in Wisconsin, are still wooded.

"That case (Chisago) is still in court," said John. "They haven't built it yet."

Now, as the Minnesota Public Utility Commission gets ready to consider Xcel's application to build four transmission lines across southwest Minnesota, the Reinhardts' voices have been added to the chorus for and against the proposal.

David Benson, Nobles County Commissioner and chairman of the Rural Minnesota Energy Task Force, said he agreed with Reinhardt that people needed to be compensated for any right-of-way taken through eminent domain proceedings.

"If you're going to be living with that tower for the rest of your life, you should be compensated for having it on your land," Benson said.

Reinhardt said that in the rush to give Xcel the lines it says it needs, wind-power proponents have run roughshod over the rights of landowners who will eventually have to allow the utility to construct power lines on their property.

He claims in his exception to the findings by Administrative Judge Beverly Jones Heydinger that those who would be most affected by the proceedings were not properly notified.

"Neither applicant's (Xcel) summary of filing, its published notices, nor the brochure mailed to citizens in the project area contain any information that would apprise 'potentially interested parties' that their private interests may be affected by the outcome of this proceeding," he said.

Jim Alders, Xcel's manager of regulatory projects, disputed Reinhardt's characterization of the company's efforts to inform the public.

"We're very confident that people generally interested in the issue were informed of the proceedings," he said. "The public hearings held throughout the summer were designed specifically to inform the public."

In particular, Alders said the company had visited the areas that would be affected by the proposed lines, issued press releases and bought paid advertising in local newspapers to inform the public about their applications.

"We sent more than 14,000 notices to individuals all over southwest Minnesota," Alders said.

Xcel has applied for certificates of need for its proposal to build a new 345-kilovolt (kV) line connecting a substation near Lakefield to one near Sioux Falls, S.D.

The plan also calls for construction in Nobles and Murray counties of a new substation and two 115-kV lines and a new 161-kV line connecting a substation near Lakefield with one near Sherburn.

The lines will sometimes cross through private property, a fact that Reinhardt says has been glossed over by the company and by wind-energy advocates in their haste to push for renewable energy.

"You have to tell the people that you want to take their land," he said. "Once the state can show there's a need to build those lines, there's nothing you can do. You'll not only be fighting Xcel, you'll be fighting the state of Minnesota."

The Reinhardts' exception to the findings by the judge will be considered by the PUC, something that gives John little hope.

"People are pretending that it's not happening," he said. "Landowners will find out when the sheriff appears at their door, but it'll be too late."

Meanwhile, Alders said the couple has been active in promoting public interest in the transmission issue.

"The Reinhardts' main service seems to be to involve the public and in making sure that those potentially affected by the transmission lines get an opportunity to be involved in the process," Alders said.

Meanwhile, John Reinhardt can count on one small victory in his personal fight against Xcel.

"Instead of going through our farm, they moved the line along a state road," he said. "But they could change that at any time."