Most likely Duke Energy holds an easement on your property for their power line. Ignore everything that follows if they actually own the land, which is unlikely.
The law of easement varies by state but such common and statutory law is similar in many respects.
You will need to read the easement that Duke Energy holds on your property to know the specific terms of the easement that Duke owns on your land. The easement will (or should be) be recorded in the records at your county administration offices.
Generally, holders of power line easements (including their subcontractors) hold a right of entry to maintain their equipment. This would almost certainly include trimming vegetation that might interfere with their equipment. Usually, such right of entry extends only to the land defined by the easement. Most such easements (and the common law of most states) require the easement holder (Duke Energy in this case) to return the land to the condition that it was in (or compensate for damage) prior to entry upon the land. In other words, Duke must repair any damage or compensate for damage.
The overwhelming majority of such easements DO NOT grant the easement holder any right to access the land defined by the easement by entry upon other land simply because doing so might be more convenient or less costly. In other words, almost certainly, neither Duke nor their subcontractors can cross any of your land not defined by the easement (your hay field) simply because it is more convenient or less costly to do so vis a vis staying upon the land defined by the Duke Entry easement. Ignoring pre-litigated prescriptive easement situations, doing so without prior permission is trespass in nearly all states and nearly all situations.
I own land upon which Duke Energy owns a power line easement. My Father bought this small piece of heaven in November of 1951 and I have spent much of my life here aside from a few decades while working professionally elsewhere. Over the last three decades or so, I have noticed that Duke Energy subcontractors (Duke Energy to a much lesser degree), e.g., tree trimmers, sprayers, etc., have become much less considerate of the rights of property owners for the sake of convenience. My experience has taught me that such subcontractors will try to get away with whatever they can based upon several factors including what they believe the property owner knows about the law.
Bottom Line: Read the easement that Duke Energy holds on your property. Having done so, enforce your rights as a landowner. Failure to enforce your rights may well result in the loss of your ability to do so but such is beyond the scope of this topic.
FWIW: I do not allow Duke Energy subcontractors upon any of my land aside from the land defined in their easement without prior permission which I usually do not grant without something in return. Yes, the Duke Energy easement across my land includes areas that can be accessed only by foot without entry upon other land that I own.
Upload one or more videos to your post. Photo and video filesizes should be less than 5MB. Formats allowed are gif, jpg, png, ogg, mp4, mov, and avi. Be sure to use filenames without spaces or special characters, and filetypes of 3 digits lower case.
We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]
Today's Featured Article - Product Review: Black Tire Paint - by Staff. I have been fortunate in that two of my tractors have had rear tires that were in great shape when I bought the tractor. My model "H" even had the old style fronts with plenty of tread. My "L" fronts were mismatched Sears Guardsman snow tires, which I promptly tossed. Well, although these tires were in good shape as far as tread was concerned, they looked real sad. All were flat, but new tubes fixed that. In addition to years and years of scuffing and fading, they had paint splattered on
... [Read Article]
Latest Ad:
2022 John Deere 5045E, 4wd, front end loader and 3rd function with grapple. 120 hrs, 55k new, must sell
[More Ads]
All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy
TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.