Dive Brief:
- The Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments this week concerning Minnesota's Next Generation Energy Act (NGEA), and whether its restrictions on importing coal-fired generation violate interstate trade laws, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.
- North Dakota argues that Minnesota's restrictions on imported coal could impact the regional grid and is a violation of the Commerce Clause of the Constitution.
- North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said he could not predict which way the judges were leaning, but should his state prevail, Minnesota would have to pay more than $1 million in legal fees.
Dive Insight:
Minnesota’s Next Generation Energy Act was aimed at limiting coal-fired power, but according to North Dakota, the impacts are potentially broader. The state believes the wording of the law would limit sales in states beyond Minnesota, when larger regional utilities are involved.
“We think the statute as it is enacted is unconstitutional — a violation of the Commerce Clause,” North Dakota AG Wayne Stenehjem told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Minnesota argued that it has not, and never would, use the law to regulate sales in other states.
There were 37 parties filing amicus briefs in the case. Those siding with North Dakota broadly argue the law violates principles of free market competition. Some believe the Minnesota law, designed to regulate in-state utilities, could unfairly apply to power companies with multi-state footprints.
The appeals court is reviewing an April ruling that Minnesota's 2007 clean energy law violates the U.S. Constitution’s Interstate Commerce Clause by preventing utilities from importing coal-generated electricity from neighboring states.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune caught up with Stenehjem after the arguments, and asked him to handicap the case. “It is always hard to tell just based on the questions that are asked where a court might be going,” he said, declining to guess. It could be months before a final ruling on the case, the newspaper reports.
