Lawsuit Contends North Dakota Utilities And Regulators Mishandled Power Line Case

(Pool photo by Tanner Ecker/Bismarck Tribune via the North Dakota Monitor)

(North Dakota Monitor) – With a decision on a controversial powerline pending with North Dakota utility regulators, the state Supreme Court is considering an appeal from residents and local governments along the project’s path who say they were shut out of the permitting process.

The Jamestown to Ellendale high-voltage transmission line, also known as JETx, would use towers up to 150 feet tall in a path about 90 miles long in Dickey, LaMoure and Stutsman counties in south-central North Dakota.

The North Dakota Public Service Commission needs to approve the final route, but a lawsuit is appealing a previous PSC decision that said the powerline is a needed addition to the electrical grid.

The lawsuit was brought by township governments and landowners along the JETx route. The opponents argue that the project developers, Otter Tail Power and Montana-Dakota Utilities, were allowed to file for a certificate of public convenience and necessity under the wrong state statute. The utilities say they were conducting business as usual.

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