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Committee hears broad support for moving electric transmission siting to Public Service Commission
Summary
Representative Mike Brandenburg told the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee that House Bill 1258 would transfer siting authority for major electric transmission lines to the Public Service Commission to ensure uniform, statewide permitting for large projects.
Representative Mike Brandenburg opened the hearing on House Bill 1258, which would transfer sole authority for siting major electric transmission facilities to the North Dakota Public Service Commission (PSC).
Brandenburg said the PSC has experience with regional grid planning and long‑range transmission coordination and argued state oversight would avoid what he described as unreasonable local setbacks or ordinances that can block large projects. “This bill would move this, to the Public Service Commission,” Brandenburg told the committee, adding the PSC can weigh statewide and regional benefits as well as local impacts.
Electric utilities and industry groups testified in support. Dennis Pathroff, a lobbyist for the Power Companies of North Dakota (PCND), said PCND members serve over 427,000 North Dakota customers and urged parity with gas and liquid pipeline siting, which already uses PSC processes. Jason Weyers, manager of transmission project development at Otter Tail Power Company, described the bill’s specific provisions in the packet: state permits from the PSC would “supersede and preempt local land use or zoning regulations” for a designated corridor while preserving requirements for compliance with road‑use agreements; the PSC would notify affected counties, cities and townships and require applicants to comply with road‑use agreements or show ordinance requirements are unreasonably restrictive.
Weyers and other utility witnesses cited the Jamestown‑to‑Ellendale (JEDX) 345 kV project as an example. Weyers said JEDX is among projects identified by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and would add redundancy and resilience after an ice storm in December 2023 briefly reduced transmission capability around Jamestown. He testified the JEDX applicants have obtained about 65% of needed land rights and plan construction to begin in summer 2026, with in‑service by 2028.
Supporters argued local ordinances imposing very large setbacks—one reference in the record cites a 26,100‑foot setback enacted by two townships—would be effectively impossible to meet and would block critical infrastructure. Industry witnesses and the North Dakota Transmission Authority urged a “due pass” recommendation to allow the PSC to provide uniform procedures and predictable outcomes. Business groups including the Greater North Dakota Chamber likewise testified that state siting would promote timely permitting and economic development.
No witnesses testified in opposition in the hearing record. Committee members asked utilities about easement payments to landowners, typical tower spacing (Weyers said about 1,000–1,400 feet between structures for a 345 kV line), and how companies engage landowners and townships during routing and right‑of‑way negotiations.
The hearing record does not show a committee vote that day; the committee closed testimony on House Bill 1258.
