Landowners, local governments lose power struggle over power lines
People opposed to House Bill 1258 line the benches in the back of the Senate chamber on April 4, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
The North Dakota Senate on Friday approved a controversial bill allowing a state agency to trump local government zoning authority on electrical transmission lines.
The 27-18 vote went against the wishes of landowners gathered in the chamber and a committee recommendation.
Supporters of House Bill 1258, including Sen. Terry Wanzek, R-Jamestown, said unreasonable setback rules threaten to shut down power line projects that benefit the whole state.
Wanzek represents an area where a large power line is planned but a township rule says the line must be a half-mile from residences and threatens to make finding a route impossible.
'Most of the time, I support local control,' Wanzek said. But he said the current situation allows a township board and just a few landowners to stop a major project.
'Sometimes the local folks go a little too far,' Wanzek said.
Some bill opponents referenced the landowners who traveled to oppose the bill, both on Friday and in a previous hearing where they overflowed the committee room.
Sen. Keith Boehm, R-Mandan, said the bill was drafted to support a single project, though it would affect future high-voltage powerlines. Testimony in committee referenced the JETx project, a transmission line from Jamestown to Ellendale with towers that are 150 feet high.
'Every time we use legislation to push something through, we poke that bear, and if it wakes up, the consequences will be far more dramatic,' Boehm warned.
The bill gives the state Public Service Commission, which approves power line projects and related utility rate increases, the ability to determine that a local ordinance is unreasonable.
The commission last year approved the JETx project in a split vote.
The bill had the support of utility companies that argued restrictive zoning laws drive up the cost of power line projects and mean higher bills for customers.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday gave the bill a do-not-pass recommendation on a 4-3 vote.
The bill had previously passed the House 86-7. It now goes to Gov. Kelly Armstrong.
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