This is a bit of a long story, but it’s one that I think Reddit might appreciate. My godfather owns a small cattle ranch out in the countryside. About 20–25 years ago, he needed electricity to power a water pump for his cows. The nearest place where he could connect to the grid was on the opposite side of the ranch, probably about a mile and a half away. So, he paid to have utility poles installed across his property. It was a significant investment, but he figured that constantly running diesel pumps would eventually cost more than installing the poles and connecting to the grid.
Sometime later, a few neighbors who lived on the far side of the ranch asked whether they could piggyback off his electrical line. He agreed. They paid to install a few additional poles, and the electric company placed their meters on the other side. Everything was running smoothly for roughly 20 years without any issues. Then, about two years ago, a real estate developer bought the land on the other side of the ranch and began preparing it for a cottage development.
The developer’s arrival didn’t exactly go over well with my godfather. They began complaining about the animals, the smell from the cattle, and the noise from the tractors and other equipment. My godfather’s response? Simple. If you choose to live next to a working ranch, you have to accept that ranching will be happening there. It was a reasonable stance, but tensions were brewing.
As the developers planned their new cottages, they ran into an unexpected issue. The two miles of electrical cable that worked fine for a few small farmhouses wasn’t going to cut it for the 10–15 cottages they intended to build. They approached the electric company about upgrading the infrastructure, only to discover that the poles crossing my godfather’s ranch were privately owned. This was where things really started to unravel.
To keep this story from dragging on, let’s just say that lawyers soon became involved. The electric company and the developer presented my godfather with an ultimatum: he could either allow the electric company to replace his existing utility poles with concrete ones and grant them permanent right-of-way access for maintenance, or he could remove the poles entirely. It was quite the pickle.
So, on a Sunday, my godfather decided to take matters into his own hands. He hopped onto the tractor they use for installing fences and pulled out every single pole. He told me that when he originally installed the line, he had only about one-fifth as many cattle as he has now. His new plan? Install some solar panels, run a smaller pumping system, and find a way to make it all work without relying on the grid.
The development company, on the other hand, suddenly had a much bigger problem to deal with. They would likely need to install three or four miles of entirely new poles to bring electricity to the cottages—electricity that had already been promised to buyers. My godfather couldn’t help but find a bit of humor in it all. He jokingly remarked about how unusually hot this summer had been, which made it a little easier to manage the needs of his livestock. Fortunately, he brought in some pigs, which require less water than the cattle, making it easier to keep them hydrated and fed. Just a coincidence, of course.
What started as a simple plan for a ranch to connect to the electrical grid ended in quite the saga, with a developer left scrambling to fulfill promises made to prospective customers, all because they underestimated the existing situation on the ground. My godfather took a firm stand, and now he has a new work setup planned that doesn’t rely on anyone but himself, while the developers are left to figure out their own electrical mess.
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