---
title: O.C.G.A. § 22-3-20. Power of persons operating or constructing electric plants to purchase, lease, or condemn rights of way and easements.
collection: code
id: 22-3-20
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 22-3-20 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/22-3-20
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/22-3-20.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/22-3-20/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t22-t23-(v19)-2020-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=a1dfc71e_0#page=177
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: EMINENT DOMAIN / EXERCISE OF POWER OF EMINENT DOMAIN FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES / CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION OF ELECTRIC POWER PLANTS / GENERAL PROVISIONS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 22-3-20. Power of persons operating or constructing electric plants to purchase, lease, or condemn rights of way and easements.

Any person operating or constructing or preparing to construct a plant for generating electricity shall have the right to purchase, lease, or condemn rights of way or other easements over the lands of others in order to run power lines, maintain dams, flow backwater, or carry on other activities necessary for constructing and operating such a plant, provided that the person first pays just compensation to the owner of the land to be affected.

## History

Ga. L. 1897, p. 68, § 1; Civil Code 1910, § 5240; Code 1933, § 36-801.

## Cross References

Granting of easements and rights of way to electric utilities for purposes of producing hydroelectric power from dam sites on property owned by governing authority of recreation system, § 36-64-3.1.

## Law Reviews

For survey article on zoning and land use law, see 59 Mercer L. Rev. 493 (2007).