A number of states have passed right of first refusal (ROFR) laws for in-state utility companies that own electric transmission lines, something that critics suggest runs counter to the public interest. This type of refusal was rejected by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 2011, but twelve states have reinstituted the right. The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled Texas’s ROFR law discriminatory, which could lead to a U.S. Supreme Court opinion on the subject. Read more here.
