PennEast Pipeline Co. v. New Jersey

Applying the delegated eminent domain doctrine, the Court held that New Jersey could not invoke Eleventh Amendment immunity because Congress had expressly authorized FERC-licensed entities like PennEast to condemn lands necessary for interstate natural gas pipelines, effectively delegating federal eminent domain power to a private company. The Court reasoned that states' implied consent to federal eminent domain authority upon ratification of the Constitution extended to such delegations, meaning PennEast's federal license carried with it the authority to overcome state immunity regardless of the state's opposition. New Jersey's characterization of the land as state-owned conservation property was immaterial; once Congress granted the condemnation power to accomplish a federal regulatory objective, state sovereign immunity became unavailable as a shield. The delegation was valid precisely because it served the federal interest in interstate energy infrastructure, an area where state veto power would frustrate national objectives.