In a case being watched nationally, the New Orleans federal appeals court struck down as unconstitutional a law in Texas that prohibits out-of-state companies from building power transmission lines there when they are part of an interstate transmission network.
Judge Gregg Costa, in an Aug. 30 ruling, said the 2019 state law—which grants only the owner of a utility the right to build, own or operate new lines that directly connect with its facilities—can’t be applied to lines that are part of a regional system, describing them as “classic instruments of interstate commerce.”