Farmers have questioned what will happen as a result of last week's announcement, which ministers said would allow them to "progress the timely delivery of critical projects and ensure better community consultation."

The lobby group opposing AusNet's Western Renewables Link project, a 190-kilometre transmission line running between Stawell and Sydenham, is seeking clarification on the impact of the new powers.

Stop AusNet's Towers spokeswoman, Myrniong farmer Emma Muir said she was concerned about the latest developments.

"They promise the world and you don't know what any of it means - I would like to see them engage with the stakeholders, the community.

"Yet again, we are not even at the table, we are not invited."

She said she understood Australia was in the middle of an energy crisis but Stop AusNet Towers would be seeking more detail to understand what impact of the decision.

"If they [power providers and governments] engage in the right way, we are happy to work with them," she said.

"But if there is no engagement, and outdated, old-fashioned, technology, we will protest against that, as will the whole of Victoria, Tasmania and NSW."

Patrick Flanagan, Blauvelt Poll Dorsets, Coimodai, said he believed the latest move was just another way of bulldozing the towers through.

"We will have no say in it," Mr Flanagan said.

"I went to a meeting with AusNet a couple of weeks ago and they still haven't arrived at a final route, they keep changing it."

The current planned route was about a kilometre from his house and would devalue the property by "at least half."

There would be no compensation for the project.

"The lines should be going underground, where there is very little environmental impact on everyone."

One of the transmission lines now seen as of national significance is the 220 kilometre Marinus Link, a 1500 megawatt capacity undersea and underground electricity connection between Tasmania and Hazelwood, Victoria.

In Tasmania, unlike Victoria, land can be compulsorily acquired for government business enterprises that provide electricity or irrigation services.

Livestock producer Oliver Scott-Young said the family was unlucky in that the Palmerston electricity sub-station was in the middle of their Poatina farm.

"We have quite a few TasNetwork lines going in various directions through our farm, that limits where we can place centre pivot irrigators," Mr Scott-Young said.

He said TasNetworks had initially indicated they would be "somewhat willing" to put towers in areas that would cause the least inconvenience.

"The cheapest option for them is the least convenient option for us - the most convenient option for us is underground, which would be the number one preference for farmers.

"The second preference would be to erect the new line the the footprint of the old line."

The way Tasmania's compulsory land acquisition was written meant many farmers "don't have a leg to stand on,' when it came to getting their preference.

Prime lamb producer Scott Colvin, Cressy, said TasNetworks was proposing a doubling of the physical size of the transmission lines across his property, while increasing their capacity tenfold.

"It's going to need a national framework, to deliver these sorts of projects," Mr Colvin said.

"Those frameworks need to be in a form that farmers are not unduly penalised for private companies profiting off increased generation capacity, while asking farmers to bear the cost of those project without adequate compensation," he said.

He said he hadn't allowed TasNetworks onto his land to do studies on a potential route..

"Until I know what it [the route] looks like, I can't tell you whether I have pivots that will turn, or not," he said.

"We have invested significant capital in pivot irrigation, fencing and laneways that will all potentially have to be moved," he said.

As government business enterprises held the power of compulsory acquisition, it handicapped the outcome of any negotiations, he said.

"If they don't like it, or they are going to have to pay too much, they are going to compulsorily acquire the land - obviously TasNetworks have assured us that is a last resort," Mr Colvin said.

"They try and avoid it at all costs, but not at any cost - they have told us going underground would increase the cost seven times."

He said he didn't fully understand what the energy ministers' decision meant.

"How are we going to negotiate properly?" he said.

"How are you going to come to the negotiating table, when one party has the power of acquisition and a stopwatch on the negotiations?

"It does not lead to landholders getting a fair deal, does it?"

He said commercial operators would be bound to negotiate in good faith, offer compensation and pay penalties, if they ran schedule on completion of work.

"We are livestock operators and they tell me they are going to be here in September, that's in the middle of lambing

"But if they don't arrive until the middle of November, I have lost three months of production, I can't get back," he said.

He said the family had been "in limbo" on the Marinus Link for some time.

"It hampers your willingness to invest, am I going to put a a centre pivot in a paddock when I am not sure it's going to be in the way, in two years?"

Meanwhile, the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association president Ian Sauer said compulsory acquisition was part and parcel of the state's unprecedented period of infrastructure development.

But TFGA members were paying the price for compulsory acquisition legislation that was "found to be lacking," he said.

"To ensure all parties are treated fairly during infrastructure development, acquisition and access legislation needs to be 'fit for purpose' and greater collaboration between all parties is needed."

"We need to ensure there is fairness, equal access to information and transparency in the decision-making process."

The Victorian government and TasNetworks have been contacted for comment.

An AusNet spokeswoman said it was a matter for the state government.