the power companies have goodwill with the people because they have proven themselves reliable, amtrak has not in the majority of the country (both trains and powerlines have a significant amount of rural land where trains do jack shit)

It's a difference between using eminent domain in an area with a very low population density vs. using it in a high density area with very high land prices. Avoiding it in both areas would be preferable, but the second variant is for sure riling people up a lot more.