§ 49-03-02 — Prerequisites to issuance of certificate of public convenience and necessity

necessity.
1. Before any certificate may issue under this chapter, a certified copy of the articles of
incorporation or charter of the utility, if the applicant is a corporation, or a certified copy
of the articles of organization of the utility, if the applicant is a limited liability company,
must be filed with the commission. At the hearing on the application after notice as
provided in this title, the utility shall submit evidence showing that the applicant has
received the consent, franchise, permit, ordinance, or other authority of the proper
municipality or other public authority, if required, or has or is about to make application
for authority. The commission shall have the power, after notice and hearing, to:
a. Issue the certificate prayed for;
b. Refuse to issue the certificate;
c. Issue the certificate for the construction or operation of a portion only of the
contemplated facility, line, plant, system, or extension of the same; or
d. Issue the certificate for the partial exercise of the right or privilege sought,
conditioned upon the applicant's having secured or upon the applicant's securing
the consent, franchise, permit, ordinance, or other authority of the proper
municipality or other public authority, and may attach to the exercise of the rights
granted by any certificate terms and conditions as in the judgment of the
commission the public convenience and necessity may require.
2. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the commission may grant a
certificate if an interested party, including any local electric cooperative, has not
requested a hearing on an application after receiving at least twenty days' notice of
opportunity to request such hearing. In addition, the commission may not issue a
certificate to an electric transmission provider for construction or operation of an
electric transmission line that will interconnect with an electric transmission line owned
or operated by an electric public utility if the electric public utility is willing and able to
construct and operate a similar electric transmission line.
3. The commission may impose an application fee of up to one hundred seventy-five
thousand dollars for an application under this chapter. With the approval of the
emergency commission, the commission may impose an additional amount. The
commission shall pay the expenses of processing an application under this chapter
from the application fee paid by the public utility in accordance with section 49-02-02.