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Vantage to Pomona Heights Chapter 4 230 kV Transmission Line Project FEIS Environmental Consequences PAGE 4-243 Another study, “Electric Transmission Lines: Is There an Impact on Rural Land Values?” (Jackson 2010), addresses the potential impacts of transmission lines to rural land used for agriculture or recreational purposes. Jackson studied several hundred sales of rural land in central Wisconsin that involved properties with a transmission line easement for lines ranging in voltage from 115 to 345 kilovolts. The general finding of this study showed that there were small (1.11 to 2.44 percent) discounts that could be attributable to the presence of the lines and the encumbrances of the properties by the easements. Neither of these small differences was considered statistically significant. In a publication, “Environmental Impacts of Transmission Lines” (Public Service Commission of Wisconsin 2009), the Commission indicated that data from studies from the 1950s evaluating the potential change in property values due to the proximity to a new transmission line is often inconclusive. The publication states that a review of the studies indicates that transmission lines have the following effects on property values: • The estimated reduction in the sale price for single-family homes has ranged from 0 to 15 percent; • Adverse effect on the sale price of smaller properties could be greater than effects on larger properties; • Other factors, such as schools, jobs, lot size, house size, neighborhood characteristics, and recreational facilities tend to have a greater effect on sale price than the presence of a transmission line; • Sale prices can increase where the transmission line ROW is attractively landscaped or developed for recreation (i.e., hiking, hunting, snowmobiling); • Effects on price and value appear to be greatest immediately after a new transmission line is built or an existing ROW is expanded. These effects appear to diminish over time and over generations of property owners; • Effects on sale price have most often been observed on property crossed by or adjacent to a transmission line, but effects have been observed for properties farther away from a line; and • Agricultural values are likely to decrease if the transmission line structures are in a location that inhibits farm operations. Few studies have addressed the impacts of transmission lines on the value of commercial and industrial properties. Those that have done so generally find the impacts are less than the impacts of residential properties. In interviews with appraisers, real-estate brokers, and owners and managers of commercial and industrial parks, Chapman (2005) found for the most part that the presence of a transmission line had little effect on market prices for commercial and industrial properties. A 2003 Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) study, “ Transmission Lines and Property Values: State of the Science,” stated that differences in location and time of data collection, as well as research design, make direct comparisons of results from the various studies very difficult. Although quantitative generalizations from studies cannot be reliably made, the following conclusions from studies seem to be similar across the board (EPRI 2003): • There is evidence that transmission lines have the potential to decrease nearby property values, but this decrease is usually small. • Lots adjacent to the ROW often benefit. Lots next to adjacent lots often have value reduction. • Higher-end properties are more likely to experience a reduction in selling price than lower- end properties. • The degree of opposition to an upgrade project may affect size and duration of the sales-price effects.