A high-voltage transmission line between Great Falls and Lethbridge, Alberta, has the approval of regulators in both countries, but some citizens on both sides of the border are not OK with its existing route.

Four Dutton-area residents are appealing the current 130-mile path through four Montana counties to the state Board of Environmental Review.

Several landowners also are challenging the route through Alberta before the Alberta Court of Appeal. That case is scheduled to be heard in January.

"This one doesn't affect me personally, but the next one may," said Chris Stephens, who lives east of Dutton but farms near Conrad.

The line doesn't cross Stephens' land, but he is appealing because he worries the diagonal placement of poles between Dutton and Conrad, which most farmers oppose, could set a precedent for future transmission projects.

The entire 214-mile Montana Alberta Tie Line would connect the electricity grids in both countries at Great Falls and Lethbridge, and three wind-farm developers have purchased the 600 megawatts of north-south capacity.

The Montana portion was approved by the state Department of Environmental Quality on Oct. 22, and the appeals are on the agenda for today's Montana Board of Environmental Review meeting in Helena.

Board members likely will assign a hearings examiner to oversee the process, which is the usual practice, and hear the case at a later date, DEQ attorney Ed Hayes said.

"To me, it is a ludicrous decision to continue with the diagonal crossing when there is a definite alternative route that could be and should be used," Michael Koenig of Conrad wrote in his appeal.

During the approval process for the line, many landowners raised similar objections cited in the appeals, namely the extra time and cost of maneuvering farm machinery around poles lined up in a diagonal line as opposed to those following straight field edges.

In response, developer Tonbridge Power reduced the number of diagonal miles and increased the number of single poles it would use as opposed to wider H-frames, but concerns remain.

Stephens and Koenig want the DEQ to revisit a different alternative that was part of the study process and had the most support among farmers.

"It's a better route than what they finally settled with," said Stephens, adding he's not against the project but just the current route configuration.

The diagonal crossing would "pretty much eliminate" any future application of chemicals to crops by airplane, Koenig said.

Landowners Jerry McRae and Katrina Wilson Martin of Dutton also are appealing.

Tonbridge Power officials are now working to line up easements with landowners and hope to begin construction by March.

The cost of construction will be about $140 million, according to the company. Tonbridge has said its entire investment would be in the neighborhood of $205 million.