Lawsuit Challenges PSC Approval of Jamestown to Ellendale Transmission Line

A legal fight over the proposed Jamestown to Ellendale high-voltage transmission line has reached the North Dakota Supreme Court, where justices heard oral arguments on April 2 from residents and local governments who say the Public Service Commission approved the project through the wrong legal process, stripping them of rights they should have had from the start.

The case targets a certificate of public convenience and necessity the PSC granted to Otter Tail Power Co. and Montana-Dakota Utilities on Nov. 20, 2024, in a 2-1 vote. Commissioners Julie Fedorchak and Sheri Haugen-Hoffart voted in favor; Randy Christmann dissented. The lawsuit, brought by township governments and landowners along the JETx route, argues that Otter Tail Power and MDU filed for that certificate under the wrong state statute. Had the correct statute been used, the lawsuit contends, townships along the route would have received direct notification at the outset, and the scope of what residents could raise at subsequent public hearings would have been broader, including the PSC hearing held in Jamestown in January.

Attorney Doug Nill, representing the townships and landowners, argued the case before the Supreme Court on April 2. Chief Justice Lisa Fair McEvers and Justice Doug Bahr were among those questioning the parties. Otter Tail Power and MDU countered that the two-step permitting process is standard and lawful, with their attorneys characterizing the approach as routine business practice.

The consequences for Stutsman County property owners are immediate and tangible. The JETx line would run roughly 90 miles through Stutsman, LaMoure and Dickey counties, connecting the Otter Tail Power substation north of Jamestown along North Dakota Highway 20 to the MDU substation near Ellendale. Towers along the route would reach up to 150 feet tall. Homer and Corwin townships in Stutsman County have both passed zoning ordinances requiring high-voltage lines to sit at least 2,640 feet, or half a mile, from occupied residences, far exceeding the state's 500-foot standard. Darron Orr, a resident of one of those townships, put it plainly at a legislative hearing earlier this year: "It's not about protesting a project, it's protecting a home."

Among those who signed an earlier petition challenging the project are landowners Shockman Farms, Allen Swiontek, Dave and Holly Wald, and Steve and Julia Nelson, along with Corwin Township and Russell Township.

The total project cost is estimated at $440 million. Construction is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2026, with the line set to be energized in the fourth quarter of 2028 if the project moves forward. Before any ground breaks, the PSC must still approve a separate corridor and route permit, meaning the Supreme Court's ruling on the certificate challenge could reshape or delay that entire downstream process.

Residents tracking the case can follow filings through the North Dakota Supreme Court's public portal and the PSC's own docket system, where the route permit application is expected to draw another round of public hearings once submitted.