Baker County Jury to Decide Idaho Power Payment to Kerns

A 13-member civil jury picked Monday morning in Baker County Circuit Court will decide how much Idaho Power Company must pay Mark and Savannah Kerns for easements and any loss in property value tied to the Boardman to Hemingway transmission line. Jurors selected included eight men and five women, with one juror designated as an alternate; the trial is scheduled to begin testimony Tuesday morning, March 3, 2026.

The dispute centers on the Kernses’ roughly 1,050-acre grazing parcel on the east side of Baker Valley, about 5 miles northeast of Baker City, which the court heard is used for grazing and contains no homes or other structures. Idaho Power filed the eminent-domain action as part of roughly 15 access and condemnation lawsuits it brought in 2023 and 2024 related to the 293-mile B2H project, a transmission line estimated to cost $1.15 billion that Idaho Power hopes to complete by late 2027 or early 2028.

Dollar figures at issue in Baker County are starkly different. Judge Matt Shirtcliff told prospective jurors that Idaho Power contends the combined value of the easements plus any loss in property value is $27,810. The Kernses, through counsel, are seeking $215,694 as fair compensation for the easements and diminution in value. Attorneys on the Kernses’ side include Baker City lawyer Andrew Martin and Fruitland, Idaho attorney David Auxier; Idaho Power’s opening statements were delivered by an attorney identified only by the surname Helfrich.

Both Auxier and Helfrich, in opening statements Monday afternoon, agreed the central question for jurors is how much the B2H project would reduce the value of the Kerns property. After opening statements, jurors traveled by bus to view the parcel; Judge Shirtcliff instructed that "The sole purpose ... was to allow jurors to see the 1,050‑acre property, which is grazing land and has no homes or other structures."

Testimony is slated to begin Tuesday morning, and the judge indicated the trial could continue into Friday of the same week. Court filings, appraisal reports, and the identities of expert witnesses and specific easement footprints have not been disclosed in the courtroom record presented to jurors so far; those details are expected to surface once testimony begins. As the first of the B2H-related eminent-domain cases to reach trial on compensation, the jury’s valuation in Baker County will be the first concrete monetary determination in the series of disputes over the transmission project.