Minnesota Power Line Case Avoids U.S. Supreme Court Review

The U.S. Supreme Court won’t review a challenge to Minnesota’s “right-to-first-refusal law” that gives existing electricity providers the right to build and maintain transmission lines.

The justices’ Monday decision means the court won’t consider whether the law places an undue burden on interstate commerce. LSP Transmission Holdings LLC argued it couldn’t compete for transmission projects and, if every state adopted this kind of law, then it would eliminate competition.

Minnesota created the law to preserve the status quo for transmission line construction and maintenance, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Contrary to LSP’s claim, the ...