ALBANY – The state’s Attorney General filed a legal challenge Monday in Manhattan requesting that the court review the federal government’s National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor policy, according to an announcement made Tuesday.

Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo’s challenge, filed in the United States 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, is in response to the U.S. Department of Energy’s recent decision to deny requests made by corridor opponents to re-examine the issue.

Cuomo claims the DOE’s policy, implemented in October 2007, was created illegally and could be detrimental for upstate residents living near the proposed $2.1 billion New York Regional Interconnect power line.

Inside the two National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors, which cover all or part of 10 eastern and western states, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission can take over what’s historically been a state’s authority to approve or deny power lines. It’s an effort to speed up transmission investments in areas the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has deemed “critically” energy congested, federal energy officials have said.