BISMARCK (AP) -- The North Dakota Supreme Court says a Bismarck electric cooperative should be able to sell power to a subdivision annexed to this city in 2005.
Capital Electric Cooperative complained after the city originally awarded franchise rights in the Boulder Ridge Subdivision to Montana-Dakota Utilities. A district court judge agreed with MDU.
In its ruling filed Friday, the Supreme Court said the city's interpretation of the law was "arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable." Capital Electric was wrongly denied a valid franchise, the ruling said.
In a separate matter, the Supreme Court said the Public Service Commission was correct when it ruled that MDU violated a state law called the Territorial Integrity Act. The law governs electric service in rural territory and the outlying areas of the city.
Two similar complaints about service territory are scheduled to go before the PSC.
ADVERTISEMENT
"This should keep us busy in the next few months," said Susan Wefald, PSC president. "It squarely puts the commission in a very important position on making decisions in these matters."
