Detroit Edison Co. v. Armada Township

In this appeal involving the acquisition of land for the purpose of constructing a 22-mile-long high energy transmission line, we are asked to decide a question of first impression: Does §2 of the Uniform Condemnation Procedures Act (UCPA), MCL 213.52; MSA 8.265(2), require that a public utility, before acquiring property for a proposed transmission line, obtain a certificate of public necessity from each township or governmental unit through which the transmission line would run? On January 25, 1984, the trial court answered this question in the affirmative and issued an order of accelerated…