North Dakota's Public Service Commission is almost finished with its review of a proposed South Dakota electric power plant, and there would be little point to halting it now, commission members say.

The commission on Friday rejected a request from the Dakota Resource Council of Dickinson and Plains Justice of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to suspend its examination of Big Stone II, which a group of utilities is developing in northeastern South Dakota.

The two organizations argued there was little reason for the PSC to continue its review until Minnesota regulators decide whether they will allow construction of new power transmission lines in the west-central part of that state.

Big Stone II's developers say the power lines are needed to transmit the new plant's electricity to Minnesota customers, and that the plant will not be built without them.

Commission President Susan Wefald and Commissioner Tony Clark said the panel has held extensive hearings on the Big Stone II project. Shutting down its review would accomplish little, they said.

"Each step that the commission takes in this process will cost some additional funds to ratepayers," Wefald said. "However, the commission has already held … two hearings on this matter, and that's the major portion of the cost."

The commissioners agreed to take formal notice of a recent decision by two Minnesota administrative law judges that seeks to block construction of the power lines.

However, the judges' opinions are only recommendations to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, and North Dakota regulators should not rely on them in making their own decisions, Clark said.

"It's a step along the process in Minnesota," Clark said of the administrative law judges' recommendations. "It's something that we should be made aware of. … At the same time, any of the future actions that the commission might take, those actions are all still available to us."

The project's lead utilities, Otter Tail Power Co. of Fergus Falls, Minn., and Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. of Bismarck, have asked the Public Service Commission to determine whether the project offers consumers the lowest-cost option of meeting increased electric demand.

If the commission endorses the project, North Dakota law makes it easier for its utility developers to be allowed electric rate increases to pay for it.