A citizens group trying to stop Xcel Energy from upgrading a power line through several suburbs has filed another lawsuit.

The Power Line Task Force, led by Sunfish Lake resident Roger Conant, alleges that Xcel Energy failed to get the required state permits from the Public Utilities Commission and the Environmental Quality Board. Conant said the lawsuit was filed in Hennepin County District Court earlier this week.

Xcel Energy spokesman Ed Legge said that the issues raised already have been settled in the company's favor.

"I can tell you that some of the main issues that are in this have been ruled on in Dakota County District Court by Judge Rex Stacey," Legge said. "That's pretty definitive."

The Power Line Task Force has appealed Stacey's ruling, issued last year, to the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

Marshall Tanick, the Minneapolis attorney representing the Power Line Task Force, said that state laws adopted in 2001 show that permits are required, contrary to Stacey's ruling. "We think it is (required by law)," Tanick said. "Xcel thinks it isn't."

The Power Line Task Force contends the line will expose residents to unsafe electric and magnetic field or EMF emissions, an allegation the power company disputes.

"We continue to adhere to state and federal guidelines on this," Legge said. "The new line will reduce the (EMF) levels by 50 percent."

Legge said the current line, built in the 1920s, is overdue for an upgrade to improve reliability and meet rising electrical demand. The project will "double the existing circuit," Legge said.

Construction already is under way. The line in question starts in the Washington County suburb of Newport and cuts through South St. Paul, Inver Grove Heights, Sunfish Lake and Mendota Heights.