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The Indiana Supreme Court reversed the Hamilton Superior Court’s judgment Thursday and held that it’s up to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to decide if Noblesville’s unified development ordinance is reasonable, as the city looks to enforce the law in a dispute with Duke Energy, LLC.
In 2020, Duke Energy attempted to build a new facility in Noblesville.
The company bought land for a new substation, more transmission lines and a new garage. The land already had an abandoned house and garage which Duke had to demolish before building its new facilities.
Duke notified Noblesville it would be demolishing the abandoned structures and in response, the city insisted the company comply with its unified development ordinance beforehand. That required multiple permits, but without obtaining any of them, Duke began demolition.
Noblesville issued a stop-work order, which Duke obeyed.
The city also sued Duke seeking declaratory judgment. The trial court ordered Duke to comply with the ordinance and obtain the permits. It also imposed a $150,000 penalty against Duke and awarded $115,679.10 in attorney fees to Noblesville.
The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment, but now the high court has reversed it.
“We hold that the trial court has jurisdiction over Noblesville’s enforcement action against Duke. But only the commission can decide whether Noblesville’s ordinance interferes unreasonably with Duke’s utility functions,” Justice Geoffrey Slaughter wrote for the high court.
The high court remanded the case for further proceedings.
All justices concurred in Duke Energy Indiana, LLC v. City of Noblesville, Indiana, 23S-PL-130.
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