ALBANY (AP) - A federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit by New York Regional Interconnect challenging a state law intended to protect homeowners from the use of eminent domain by private transmission companies, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office said.

The Albany-based company sought to invalidate the law, arguing that it discriminated against the company and violated its rights to equal protection and due process.

NYRI officials did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.

In a statement, Cuomo called the bench ruling by U.S. District Judge Hon. Thomas McAvoy "a win for homeowners" throughout Upstate New York.

Cuomo said the ruling preserved "New York's right to make decisions on projects like NYRI based on our state's environmental and energy needs, not on the desires of private companies or the federal government."

NYRI has proposed building a 200-mile, $1.6 billion high-voltage transmission line from the Utica area to the lower Hudson Valley to deliver electricity to an area where power demand is expected to outstrip supply in a few years.

Former Gov. George Pataki created a major obstacle to the project by signing a law in October 2006 restricting NYRI's use of eminent domain.

Without the ability to force property sales, the company would have little chance of securing all the necessary land to complete the line, NRYI officials said.

NYRI argued that the law unconstitutionally targeted a single company and would have a chilling effect on economic development and investment in New York.

The company also claimed the law destroyed well-established laws and procedures for siting projects.

If McAvoy's ruling stands, it would mean NYRI would have to turn to the federal government to pursue its project.

In October, the federal government announced that it was designating two so-called "national interest electric transmission corridors," which encompass all or part of 10 states where officials say aging high-voltage lines are not capable of handling growing power demand.

The mid-Atlantic power corridor runs from Virginia and Washington, D.C., north to include most of Maryland, all of New Jersey and Delaware and large sections of New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Under a law passed in 2005, the federal government can approve new power-transmission towers within the corridors if states and regional groups fail to build such lines.

The corridor designations may increase pressure on state regulators to grant permits to private industry to build new lines. Utilities in many states have long complained that state authorities are reluctant to approve new lines, often because of local opposition.

If state authorities do not approve any construction after a year, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission may intervene and approve a grid project if the new line is deemed necessary to satisfy national power needs. Such approvals could, in theory, include the use of eminent domain law to buy private property.