A federal appeals court has lifted an injunction that sought to block utility companies in Indiana from claiming the exclusive right to build billions of dollars in regional transmission projects across the state.
A three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit handed down the decision Thursday, saying the plaintiff, New York-based LS Power, lacked standing to seek the injunction against Indiana regulators. Judges ruled that the regional grid operator — not the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission — determines who builds regionally planned power lines.
The ruling doesn’t resolve the underlying issue in the case. But it represents a win for Indiana’s incumbent utilities in their effort to lock up projects approved last year by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator as part of a $21.8 billion portfolio of regional power lines.
“This case presents an unusual situation,” U.S. Circuit Judge David Hamilton wrote in the majority opinion. The plaintiffs “insist that a governmental body has powers that the governmental body says it does not have.”
