Hoffmann v. WBI Energy Transmission, Inc. (SCOTUS Cert Grant on Pipeline Eminent Domain Attorney-Fee Preemption)
The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari on June 29, 2026 in Hoffmann v. WBI Energy Transmission, Inc., No. 25-159, agreeing to decide whether the Natural Gas Act displaces state fee-shifting statutes that would otherwise let a landowner recover attorney's fees after a pipeline company condemns property using federal eminent domain authority. The case arises from WBI Energy's 2018 taking of pipeline easements across McKenzie County, North Dakota land, after which the Eighth Circuit reversed a roughly $380,000 fee award the landowners had won under North Dakota's fee-shifting statute.
Why it matters
The ruling will define the true cost of contesting a federal eminent domain valuation for any property owner along a proposed pipeline, transmission line, or other federally licensed infrastructure corridor, and a broad preemption holding could invite condemnors in other federally licensed contexts to argue state fee-shifting and cost-recovery statutes no longer reach them either. Developers and landholders with property banked along known utility corridors should watch the decision closely and factor the current fee uncertainty into any condemnation negotiating posture now.
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