(Photo by Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor)
(North Dakota Monitor) – Two power companies are asking the North Dakota Public Service Commission to make a determination that some local zoning ordinances along a proposed powerline are overly restrictive, which would trigger a new law that says state zoning rules trump local ordinances for transmission lines.
An attorney representing Otter Tail Power and Montana-Dakota Utilities asked for the request at the start of a hearing on the Jamestown to Ellendale high-voltage powerline project, also known as JETx.
Jason Weiers, manager of transmission policy and contracts for Otter Tail Power, testified that overly restrictive ordinances in townships along the proposed route threaten to make the project unfeasible.
Otter Tail Power and Montana-Dakota Utilities would jointly construct, own and operate the 92-mile powerline. The companies asked the three-person PSC to find the setback ordinances of some townships overly restrictive, making the state’s 500-foot setback from occupied residences the standard.
FOLLOW US FOR INSTANT UPDATES!
