Minnesota placed a ban on new power generation from fossil fuels in 2007 as part of its Next Generation Energy Act.

The act required that all new coal-fired power plants offset 100% of their carbon emissions.

North Dakota officials, alongside coal and utility interests, took issue with the ban and sued Minnesota for hampering interstate commerce.

The judge ruled that the provision violated the Constitution’s commerce clause, calling it a “classic example of extraterritorial regulation”

The judge added if every state imposed such bans “the current marketplace for electricity would come to a grinding halt”

In an interconnected electricity system such as the Midwest Independent System Operator, "entities involved at each step of the process- generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity would potentially be subject to multiple state laws regardless of whether they were transacting commerce outside of their home state," she added.

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton vowed to appeal the court’s decision.

He said: “In this case, North Dakota operators propose to build new, coal-fired power-generating plants without offsetting emission reductions.

“Prevailing winds will carry those toxic emissions directly into Minnesota. That shameful practice should not be permitted by either the state or federal government.”

Lignite Energy council president and CEO Jason Bohrer, said that while the decision was a victory "for the rule of law and the US Constitution," the real winners "are the residents of North Dakota, Minnesota and the entire Upper Midwest."

Currently, Minnesota gets 46% of its electricity from coal, in North Dakota the fuel source accounts for 79 %of power generation.