PUEBLO COUNTY – Power poles that caused quite the ruckus are now coming down.
Black Hills Energy put up more poles than the Colorado Department of Transportation allowed them to. The company was only approved to put up two poles, but more than 30 went up.
“We see Black Hills operating in this kind of a style where they do what is best for Black Hills and sometimes they don’t take into consideration the constituents they serve,” said Sen. Leroy Garcia, (D)- Pueblo.
People who live near Beulah say the poles are blocking their view along Highway 78.
“We want to be a part of the solution and not the problems,” said Greta Hanson Maurer, Pueblo County resident. “We are going to continue to work with CDOT and county commissioners to see if we can get our vistas restored.”
Black Hills tells News 5 that there was a miscommunication that led to the extra poles being put up.
“An inspector came out, we ceased work immediately,” said Julie Rodriguez, Black Hills Energy.
CDOT says a permit has to be approved before the poles can come down.
“Now we are in the process of reapplying for the permit and poles will be repositioned to the south side of the highway,” Rodriguez said.
Black Hills says that it is a third party vendor that negotiates permits with CDOT and they are reviewing its process moving forward.
