American Indian Culture and Research Journal

On 29 August 1990 the Devils Lake Sioux tribe filed suit in federal court (District of North Dakota, Southwestern Division) challenging the asserted authority of the state of North Dakota and the North Dakota Public Service Commission to regulate public utilities within the boundaries of the Fort Totten (Devils Lake Sioux) Reservation. The prologue to this case was a dispute between two electrical providers-the investor-owned Otter Tail Power Company and the consumer-owned Baker Electric Company, a North Dakota electrical cooperative-over the right to service the reservation, particularly the newly established Dakota Tribal Industries, a tribally owned manufacturing plant situated on tribally owned trust land. The tribe sought to continue to contract with otter Tail, arguing that this was within their authority and also the most economical means of obtaining electricity. The North Dakota Public Service Commission disagreed, claiming that this contra- the consumer-owned Baker Electric Company, a North Dakota contravened their right to regulate utilities within the entire state of North Dakota. On 21 August 1990 the commission, backed by a North Dakota Supreme Court ruling, issued an order directing Otter Tail to desist from supplying electricity to the reservation and to remove all equipment. The 29 August complaint was in response to this order.