North Dakota's highest court has given new momentum to a disputed high-voltage transmission line, concluding that landowners and townships were properly notified before regulators approved a key step in the process.
For residents who wanted more input on where the line goes and how close it can come to homes, the decision is a setback that could further erode trust in major energy infrastructure projects.
What happened?
According to the North Dakota Monitor, on July 23, the North Dakota Supreme Court upheld the Public Service Commission's public-notice process for the 90-mile proposed high-voltage transmission line called JETx.
It likewise concluded that the challengers — several townships and landowners — tried to formally join the case only after the commission had already acted.
Planned for North Dakota's south-central region, JETx would cross Dickey, LaMoure, and Stutsman counties. The project has also been described with 150-foot towers, and utilities Otter Tail Power and Montana-Dakota Utilities say it would improve grid reliability around Jamestown.
According to the Monitor, Wano Township in LaMoure County led the lawsuit, which claimed the developers pursued the certificate of need under the wrong statute. Attorney Doug Nill argued that using another section of law would have required direct notice to local governments instead of relying on newspaper publication.
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Why does it matter?
Transmission lines can play an important role in strengthening the grid and moving electricity where it is needed most. But when residents believe they were not clearly notified or meaningfully included, even projects tied to reliability or cleaner energy can quickly become flashpoints.
In this case, some critics view JETx as a project that would mainly aid data-center development in Ellendale and Jamestown, while others see it as helping meet Minnesota demand for cleaner power generated by North Dakota wind farms. Nearby communities would be the ones living with the towers, the visual disruption, and concerns over how the line could affect property use.
Questions about local control have intensified the dispute. The Monitor reported that House Bill 1258, passed in the 2025 session, transferred zoning authority over major transmission lines from local governments to the Public Service Commission.
Under that law, the North Dakota Monitor said, utilities can route lines as close as 500 feet from a residence, despite some townships pressing for setbacks as large as half a mile.
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What's being done?
More litigation could follow. Nill told The Monitor that the decision did not resolve whether the commission relied on the correct statute, and he said the townships plan to appeal the Public Service Commission's final approval of the line.
At the same time, the commission has continued to defend its process. Public Service Commission Chair Randy Christmann, who had previously voted against the certificate of need because he cited customer costs, later backed the route permit after the legal issues were separated, according to The Monitor.
As Christmann put it, "I felt like the PSC handled it appropriately, and that's coming from a guy who dissented from the order." He also defended the agency's outreach, saying, "I think our public notice process is working well."
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