A Mesa County district judge has placed significant restrictions on how a private easement outside Palisade can be used by Pivot Energy and other defendants, impacting solar projects, local property rights, and road safety concerns. The preliminary injunction, issued by District Judge JenniLynn E. Lawrence on September 25, follows an ongoing dispute over property access, alleged trespassing, and the safety of a shared roadway.
The injunction specifically prohibits using the easement to benefit the separate Summy Solar Project, including the installation of power lines intended to serve it. Judge Lawrence found that the Summy project is on property that has no legal rights under this particular easement. However, the ruling does not prohibit continued access within the easement to James Sterling’s property at 656 39 Road, where Pivot Energy has leased land for a different, separate solar project.
Judge Lawrence also found that property owner James Sterling’s excavation along the easement road had created unstable slopes, potentially threatening the roadway itself and nearby power poles. The injunction bars Sterling from creating further unsafe conditions, including additional vertical cuts that leave unstable slopes. The order states that these cut-away banks could fail at any time.
Additionally, the order prohibits defendants from trespassing on Cullen and Krista Howard’s property by using a shortcut that lies outside the designated easement area. According to the order, video evidence showed each defendant or its employees trespassing on the property before the Howards roped off the shortcut.
This lawsuit was filed on April 17 by James and Christine Murphy, Raven Novak, Cullen and Krista Howard, and James and Maureen Delany. The named defendants include James Sterling, Pivot Energy Development LLC, Pivot Solar 44 LLC, Sturgeon Electric Company, and Public Service Company of Colorado, which operates as Xcel Energy. Judge Lawrence’s written preliminary injunction followed a September 4 evidentiary hearing, building on a temporary restraining order previously issued on April 23.
Court findings detail that Sterling entered into solar and battery-storage leases with Pivot in December 2022. Pivot subsequently entered agreements with Xcel to connect solar facilities to the electrical grid, and Sturgeon Electric Company was contracted to install utility infrastructure. Despite these agreements, the judge distinguished between the solar project on Sterling’s property and the Summy Solar Project, which is located south of the easement properties and is not among the parcels served by the easement.
Judge Lawrence found that defendants intended to install power infrastructure within the easement to connect the Summy project to an Xcel substation, despite the Summy property lacking legal access. “None of the Defendants have any present legal right to use the Easement to benefit the Summy Property,” Lawrence wrote, concluding that the landowners had established a reasonable probability of prevailing on that issue and that an injunction was necessary to protect their property rights.
The order noted that while the shortcut across the northeast corner of the Howards’ property had historically been used with permission, intensified use led the Howards to revoke that permission and post no-trespassing signs. The judge’s findings regarding the unstable slopes noted Sterling removed substantial amounts of soil, creating vertical cuts of eight to 10 feet, leaving loose dirt likely to wash into the road and potentially destabilize nearby power poles.
According to the plaintiffs’ statement in the case-management order, Sterling removed a community gate and kicked neighboring landowner Cullen Howard in the chest when confronted. The statement indicates Sterling later pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and is subject to a mandatory protection order.
In their statement included in the case-management order, Pivot and Sterling argue the easement broadly permits access and utility uses benefiting Sterling’s property, including those associated with solar development. They contend the agreement does not restrict access to residential purposes or require neighboring owners’ approval before reasonable improvements are made, and they deny that their use and modifications have overburdened the properties crossed by the easement. Xcel Energy denies wrongdoing and argues the agreement permits installation of electrical distribution lines to connect the solar projects. Alternatively, Xcel asserts it can acquire additional property rights through condemnation. However, Judge Lawrence wrote in the preliminary injunction order that, “The fact that certain utility companies can use eminent domain does not give them license to use an easement they have no legal right to use without any due process or compensation.” Sturgeon Electric Company also denies wrongdoing, negligence, and trespass.
This ruling does not resolve the entire lawsuit or impose a blanket prohibition on nearby solar development. Instead, it addresses specific issues related to property access, the permitted uses of the easement, and conditions along the roadway while the lawsuit proceeds. A seven-day trial for the case is scheduled to begin on September 27, 2027, continuing through October 1 and October 4-5. The case-management order also notes that Pivot, Sterling, and Xcel may seek to pause discovery depending on progress in Xcel’s condemnation action.
