Editors' Summary

The 2005 Energy Policy Act contained a provision that gave federal authorities greatly enhanced power over the construction of electric transmission lines in states and counties in which they are unwelcome. Because this provision is viewed as intrusive, it is a popular target for politicians on both sides of the aisle; the courts have also shown distaste for it. But the provision was enacted for a reason: to respond to an increasingly dire inadequacy of transmission facilities in the United States. Thus, as the courts are considering cases involving this new federal power, they should take care not to construe it so narrowly as to prevent it from accomplishing its important purpose.