Dive Brief:

• Two groups, Downwind LLC and Golden Bridge LLC, have filed a lawsuit in the eastern Arkansas district court, claiming the U.S. Department of Energy grossly exceeded its authority when it approved a 700-mile transmission project in March, RTO Insider reports. 
• DOE made a point in announcing its support for the project to say that eminent domain would only be used as a last resort in developing the line, but opponents are calling the agency's participation a "stunning example of federal overreach."
• The project will deliver enough power for more than 1 million homes, with 500 MW earmarked for delivery into Arkansas. The remaining 3,500 MW will be delivered into the Tennessee Valley Authority system.

Dive Insight:

Both Downwind and Golden Bridge were formed specifically to challenge Plains & Eastern's Clean Line Project, and in their lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, they attack the DOE's authority to approve the project and say federal regulators wrongly circumvented states' authority.

The lawsuit names the DOE, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, the Southwestern Power Administration and its administer Scott Carpenter, as defendants.

"Federal Defendants approved the construction and operation of one of the nation's largest electric transmission lines (in terms of capacity, length, and physical size) to span the entire width of the State of Arkansas without seeking required state-level review and approval, and without adequate opportunity for affected person to participate in the decision making process," the groups wrote.

DOE agreed to participate in March, but included several caveats. The agency specified that it would only exercise eminent domain as a last resort, and only if the project met certain milestones to prove its viability. Also, DOE said that before obtaining land for the project from landowners, "commercial viability will need to be demonstrated."

That means Clean Line will need to execute transmission service agreements and complete key technical studies required by the Southwest Power Pool, Midcontinent Independent System Operator and Tennessee Valley Authority.

But Downwind and Golden Bridge call DOE's approval a "stunning example of federal overreach. ... the same Federal Defendants' also propose to participate in the Project by exercising the federal government's power of eminent domain, where necessary, to condemn private properties."

Downwind describes itself as a "a multi-member association of concerned citizens duly organized and operated under the laws of the State of Arkansas."

Golden Bridge says its members include landowners on the preferred and alternate routes of the Clean Line project, neighboring landowners, "and allies who simply object to the corporate use of eminent domain." The group attributes its name to a military concept, and quotes Sun Tzu on their web site: "To leave an opponent an opportunity to withdraw in order to not force them to act out of desperation."

DOE's participation in the project is the first time it has used new authority set out the Energy Policy Act of 2005, to address transmission constraints.