Landowners, townships bring appeal of transmission line to North Dakota Supreme Court

BISMARCK, N.D. (Mary Steurer – North Dakota Monitor) — Landowners and townships have asked the North Dakota Supreme Court to find that state utility regulators skipped a key step in their review of a proposed power line by not properly engaging affected communities about the need for the project.

The case involves a high-voltage transmission line known as JETx, which is proposed for between Jamestown and Ellendale. The Public Service Commission is scheduled to make a decision on a siting permit for the project during a meeting at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

The Public Service Commission decision debated Tuesday before the Supreme Court involves  a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the project. When a new transmission line over a certain voltage is in the works, developers must seek authorization from the Public Service Commission that it is a necessary addition to public infrastructure. This includes a review of its use of resources and how it will affect surrounding communities.

Townships and residents along the project’s intended route say the Public Service Commission made this determination for JETx without the sufficient notice to the public required by state law.

A district court judge in a February decision agreed with state and utility companies’ claims that the landowners and local governments failed to meet the statutory deadline to appeal the certificate.

Doug Nill, an attorney representing the landowners and townships, said during Tuesday’s hearing that his clients were deprived of the opportunity to weigh in on whether JETx serves the public interest.

He argued that ordinarily, the Public Service Commission must directly notify affected communities, hold a hearing, gather evidence and issue a decision that sufficiently explains its reasoning.

Nill said this did not happen with JETx because the PSC allowed the utility companies behind the transmission line to file for a certificate of public convenience and necessity under the wrong statute.

The only public notices provided about the application were “blurbs in the newspaper,” he said, which were followed by an informal hearing.

The landowners and townships have asked the Supreme Court to halt all proceedings under  the Public Service Commission related to the transmission line.

The utility companies behind the project, Otter Tail Power and Montana-Dakota Utilities, say that they followed proper procedure and that other applications have used the same statute without issue.

The PSC maintains that its decision to issue the certificate was sound.

“The courts should not second guess the rationale of administrative agencies,” said Zachary Pelham, an attorney representing the PSC in the hearing.

Pelham also noted that the landowners did not participate in the public hearing on the certificate.

Nill said that if the Public Service Commission used the wrong statute, then the order is invalid regardless. He also said his clients were not able to participate in the hearings because they were not directly notified about them.

“You don’t get notice, you don’t appear,” Nill said.

Before JETx can begin construction, the utility companies must receive a routing permit from the Public Service Commission. Nill said during Tuesday’s hearing that the PSC should not be able to consider the routing permit because the certificate of public convenience and necessity is invalid.

Justice Douglas Bahr during oral arguments asked Nill why concerned landowners haven’t raised their concerns in recent hearings over the routing permit application.

“Isn’t that the proceeding where they should challenge that?” he asked.

In an interview Tuesday afternoon, two landowners involved in the suit, Susan and Richard Long, said they tried but were told the matter was not within the scope of the hearings. The PSC held public hearings on the siting permit in Edgeley, Ellendale and Jamestown.

The North Dakota Supreme Court has yet to rule on the case. It took the matter under advisement Tuesday.

Tuesday’s oral arguments were held virtually. The Longs and other plaintiffs asked for the hearing to be held in person, though that request was denied.

“It would have been good for the justices to know that there are a lot of concerned people out here,” Richard Long said.

The PSC approved the certificate of public convenience and necessity in November 2024. The townships and residents appealed the decision, which the PSC denied in June of 2025.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit include five townships, landowners, farm partnerships and the Willowbank Hutterian Brethren Association.

The JETx transmission line 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.

Some oppose the proposed power line out of the belief that its purpose is to support data centers at Ellendale and Jamestown, or to carry green energy from North Dakota wind farms to Minnesota. Otter Tail Power and Montana-Dakota Utilities have said JETx will support the reliability of the electrical grid in the Jamestown area.

(Story written by Mary Steurer – North Dakota Monitor)