In the Matter of Petition of Montana-Dakota Utilities Co.

KONENKAMP, Justice.

[¶ 1.] The question we address in this administrative appeal is whether an electric utility may petition to provide service outside its statutorily assigned service territory to a “large load” customer in another utility’s assigned service area. We conclude that SDCL 49-34A-56 allows only customers to petition for an outside provider. Thus, we affirm the Public Utilities Commission’s ruling that an outside provider lacked standing to bring a petition under the statute.

Background

[¶ 2.] The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) regulates which utility provides a customer with…