Idaho Power sues to evict trailers, vehicles from Brownlee Reservoir near Huntington

Idaho Power Co. filed a complaint in Baker County Circuit Court on Feb. 19, 2026, asking a judge to evict four people and remove travel trailers and vehicles from 40 acres the company asserts it owns near where the Burnt River enters Brownlee Reservoir, about 2 miles east of Huntington. The filing names defendants Robert Lyle Ray, Virginia Louise Ray, Lyle Lester Ray and Jeffrey Linn Geelan and was submitted by attorney Simmone Landau of Ontario on behalf of Idaho Power.

The complaint alleges that between Nov. 12 and Nov. 23, 2025, the defendants moved at least four travel trailers and several vehicles onto the Idaho Power parcel and that the trailers and vehicles remained on the property as of Feb. 19, 2026. The filing includes a photograph purporting to show the trailers and vehicles on the 40-acre site near the Burnt River inlet to Brownlee Reservoir.

Idaho Power cites its on-site camping rules in the complaint and states that the campers exceeded the company’s time limit. The complaint quotes company policy: "Idaho Power allows people to camp on the site for up to 14 days. After that, the company requires campers to move at least 5 miles from the site, and not return to the original spot for at least five days." The suit alleges the named defendants stayed beyond that 14-day allowance.

The company says it notified the occupants before suing. An Idaho Power agent told the defendants around Dec. 9, 2025, that they had exceeded the 14-day limit and needed to leave no later than Dec. 23, 2025, and an Idaho Power representative again told the defendants on Feb. 15, 2026, that they had to leave, according to the complaint.

For relief, Idaho Power asks the court to evict the four named defendants from the property and seeks a monetary award of "$1, or other such amount to be proven at trial," as well as "costs and disbursements," language the complaint quotes directly. The filing was logged in Baker County Circuit Court in Baker City; the complaint as reported does not include a hearing date, case number, or judge assignment.

Separately from this eviction action, Idaho Power has been active in Baker County on transmission-line matters. The company has pursued condemnation and easement suits tied to the Boardman-to-Hemingway 293-mile transmission project and has filed roughly a dozen preliminary lawsuits since late 2021 seeking property access for environmental surveys; earlier condemnation filings have sought easements of roughly 34 acres valued at $36,250 and other parcels valued in the mid-$30,000 range. Those condemnation and easement matters are distinct from the Brownlee Reservoir eviction complaint.

The complaint filed Feb. 19, 2026, remains pending in Baker County Circuit Court; no hearing date or subsequent court action has been reported and there is no record in the filing of statements from the four named defendants.