Lakeshore council is not happy with Hydro One's direction for a new transmission line from Chatham-Kent.
The utility has unveiled its plan for the project which cuts diagonally through Comber impacting 26 farming and commercial properties.
Some members of council feel there's been a lack of communication with the municipality and the public.
Councillor Linda McKinlay says COVID-19 has made consultation tough, but it's no excuse.
"This is so important to these farmers and to the commercial lands. I think it's been incredibly difficult to keep the communication lines open. The communication is not there and we should have attempted to find other ways to keep these people informed."
Deputy mayor Tracey Bailey says the town should have been included in the planning process.
"The process should have began with a planning report for Comber. Had we had a heads up we could have planned it out ourselves and utilized that plan to form our decisions. Lakeshore wasn't consulted and, at the end of the day, we have 26 properties, that's the entire project, telling us they were not consulted."
Councillor Kelsey Santarossa says she was caught off guard by the plan.
"This is the first time I'm seeing a lot of this information and, while I can appreciate that the easiest way to do this is to draw a line from point A to point B and that's likely to be your best route, what I'm hearing from councillors and what I'm hearing from residents is that's really not the case. We certainly don't have answers to the impact it's going to have."
According to Hydro One officials, 10 of the 26 property owners impacted by the new line have already agreed to compensation and access to their land — talks are ongoing with the remaining 16.
The utility has also pledged to improve broadband in the area by installing fibre optic lines on the new transmission towers.
The issue will be further discussed in June when Hydro One releases its draft Environmental Study Report for public review and comment.