Court Denies SRP Motion, Rules Homeowners Can Sue SRP Directly Over Uncompensated High Voltage Power-Line Taking

A Pinal County Superior Court ruled that Arizona homeowners may bring their own inverse condemnation lawsuit under Article 2, Section 17 of the Arizona Constitution when a utility takes HOA common areas without naming or compensating them.

This past January, we wrote about the homeowners of the Circle Cross Ranch Homeowners Association in San Tan Valley, who woke up to find massive, high-voltage power lines under construction in their neighborhood’s open-space common areas — without SRP ever naming them in its condemnation case, condemning their property rights, or paying them a dime. (You can read that post here.) On behalf of those homeowners, Frazier Law filed a lawsuit demanding the just compensation the Arizona Constitution guarantees.

SRP’s response? It asked the court to throw the case out and pay the homeowners nothing. SRP argued that because it had filed a condemnation action against the homeowners’ HOA—an action that never named the homeowners and never condemned their individual property rights—the homeowners were not allowed to bring their own lawsuit at all.

The court has now ruled. In an Order filed August 3, 2026, the Pinal County Superior Court denied SRP’s Motion to Dismiss in its entirety.

The ruling matters for every Arizonan who lives in a community with HOA common areas, approximately ⅓ of the states’ population. The court held that an inverse condemnation action derives directly from Article 2, Section 17 of the Arizona Constitution: the provision that forbids the government from taking or damaging private property without just compensation. And the court held that property owners may bring their own, separate inverse condemnation lawsuit when a taking does not name them and condemn their separate compensable interests — and their HOA does not adequately represent those interests. In plain English: a utility cannot cut individual homeowners out of the process by dealing only with their HOA, and homeowners who were left out of a condemnation case are not bound by it.

The court also allowed the homeowners’ nuisance claim to move forward, recognizing that the ongoing operation of transmission poles and overhead lines immediately behind families’ backyards raises questions a fuller record must answer.

This decision builds on the Arizona Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in State v. Foothills Reserve (2025), which confirmed that individual homeowners are entitled to just compensation when HOA common areas are taken. Together, these rulings send a clear message to every utility exercising eminent-domain power across Arizona — whether it is SRP building through a Pinal County subdivision or Tucson Electric Power (TEP) running new transmission lines from the University of Arizona area out past I-10: the Arizona Constitution’s guarantee of just compensation belongs to individual property owners, and it cannot be engineered around.

“The court’s order confirms what the Constitution says: when the government takes or damages your property, you are entitled to your day in court and to just compensation,” said Managing Partner Grant Frazier. “Homeowners don’t lose their constitutional rights just because a utility chose not to name them.”

The case now moves forward toward discovery and trial. There is much work ahead, and we look forward to continuing to press our clients’ claims.

If a utility has built transmission lines or other infrastructure through your neighborhood’s common areas—or across your property—without naming you or compensating you, you may have rights under the Arizona Constitution. Frazier Law will stand with Arizonans in defending against government overreach and vindicating fundamental rights. Contact us today.