(KNOX) – Landowners in Dickey, LaMoure and Stutsman counties have made their plea to the North Dakota Supreme Court on Tuesday to fight a massive powerline project.
The powerline would be 90 miles long and it would go from Jamestown to Ellendale. it is also known as JETx, and it would use towers up to 150 feet tall. Residents are saying that Otter Tail Power and Montana-Dakota Utilities didn’t give them enough notice ahead of time.
The attorney representing the townships argued that state utility regulators skipped a key step in their review of the powerline and they didn’t recieve feedback from affected communities. They also say the project developers filed for certificates under the wrong statute.
The North Dakota Public Service Commission approved a certificate of need for the project in November 2024. The townships and residents appealed the approval of the certificate in June 2025 to the PSC, but they ruled the appeal was too late.
A North Dakota House bill also lets the PSC set zoning rules and allows the towers to be built within 500 feet from a residence. Some local ordinances tried to keep the towers a half-mile away.
The Public Service Commission is supposed to make a decision on a permit for the project today.
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