The conflict began in 2018 after WBI Energy Transmission secured pipeline easements across properties in North Dakota under the Natural Gas Act. Although the parties eventually settled on the value of the condemned land, litigation continued over litigation expenses. A federal district court originally awarded the ranchers $383,375.76 in fees under state law, but the Eighth Circuit reversed the decision in March 2025. The Supreme Court must now resolve whether state statutes or Fifth Amendment standards dictate fee recoveries against private pipeline operators.
Key points
The Supreme Court will decide if private firms exercising federal eminent domain are boun…: The Supreme Court will decide if private firms exercising federal eminent domain are bound by state compensation statutes.
Landowners maintain that the federal Natural Gas Act does not preempt state laws authoriz…: Landowners maintain that the federal Natural Gas Act does not preempt state laws authorizing legal fee reimbursements.
WBI and the federal government argue that uniform constitutional standards must apply acr…: WBI and the federal government argue that uniform constitutional standards must apply across all federal takings.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
The US Supreme Court will hear a dispute on Monday over whether a private natural gas pipeline company must pay the legal expenses of landowners whose property it acquires through eminent domain.
The case involves North Dakota rancher Leonard Hoffmann and his neighbours, who won an award of $383,375.76 in attorney's fees and litigation expenses against WBI Energy Transmission, according to SCOTUS Analytics. However, the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit overturned the award in March 2025, ruling that federal law, rather than state law, governs compensation in such cases. The ranchers have now challenged that decision before the Supreme Court.
The dispute began in 2018 when WBI Energy Transmission informed Hoffmann and other landowners in North Dakota that it planned to acquire an easement across their ranchland for a natural gas pipeline. An easement gives another party the right to use a specific portion of privately owned property. Although WBI is a private company, it holds a federal certificate that allows it to exercise eminent domain powers under the Natural Gas Act.
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