I am calling on the General Assembly to take action on behalf of property owners rights for the following reasons:

• The Rural Utilities Service does not regulate electric transmission line siting or public necessity, they only facilitate federal funding and loan guarantees.
• In Georgia local governments representing close to 2 million people have asked the General Assembly to take action.
• Citizens whose lands are taken are forced to continue to pay taxes on the land despite their no longer having control over it and the fact that it has been significantly devalued.
• The state has given the sacred rights of land owners to the power companies and fail to provide oversight to prevent the abuse that we have all come to know as real and widespread
• Private Electric Utilities are exempt from all Open Records and Freedom of Information Laws.

Thank-you for your time and consideration in this manner. Please respond and let me know what action you intend to take on behalf of the citizens of Georgia.