Battle of attorneys general in coal dispute

Minnesota's attorney general wants North Dakota's attorney general kicked out of an interstate legal battle over coal.

In a motion filed Wednesday in the month-old lawsuit, Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson contends that her counterpart in North Dakota has no jurisdiction in the case and lacks a basis for making a legal claim.

Coal interests in North Dakota, led by the state's attorney general, Wayne Stenehjem, sued Minnesota regulators on Nov. 2 in federal court, alleging that a 2007 Minnesota law restricting imports of coal-generated electricity violates the U.S. Constitution's protections for interstate commerce.

The motion filed Wednesday by Assistant Minnesota Attorney General Jeanne M. Cochran would turn the case into a legal fight between Minnesota public officials, represented by the attorney general, and private coal interests, including coal companies, a trade association and electric cooperatives.

Cochran also asked the court to dismiss before trial all of the North Dakota legal claims against Minnesota except the interstate commerce issue. The two-page motion did not state Minnesota's legal reasoning, which isn't due until February.

Stenehjem said in a statement that Minnesota's motion was not unexpected and that he remains confident in North Dakota's position.

Minnesota's law bans new fossil-fuel power plants in Minnesota and restricts imports of electricity from new fossil-fuel plants in other states by requiring the utilities to offset the carbon dioxide emissions with reductions elsewhere.

In a separate answer to the lawsuit, the Minnesota attorney general denied that the 2007 law is unconstitutional or that coal interests have been hurt by it.

North Dakota earlier this month revised its initial complaint, though the central issue remained the same.

U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson of St. Paul is scheduled to hear oral arguments on Minnesota's motion in March.