Minnesota officials, utilities fire back at DOJ's constitutional attack of state ROFR law

摘要

Minnesota officials and two local incumbent utilities asked a districtrncourt Monday to essentially ignore the Department of Justice's claimsrnthat the right of first refusal to build transmission projects wasrnunconstitutional, insinuating that the agency lacked the necessaryrnexpertise on electricity regulation to weigh in.rnThe ROFR essentially gives incumbent utilities first dibs on anyrntransmission project in their service areas. A federal policy allowing thepractice was nixed in 2011 as part of FERC's landmark transmissionrnplanning and cost allocation rule known as Order 1000.