TransCanada contends it has met the standards required in state law, and that any negative impacts from the Keystone XL would be minimal.

"The preferred route has been studied exhaustively. It's one of the most studied cross-border pipelines in history," said TransCanada spokesman Matt Johns.

"The safety, the environmental merits of this project have been studied at length, and the preferred route has been the route that has been determined to be the safest and most environmentally-responsible route."

The 275-mile portion of the pipeline that would cut through the state would run from Keya Paha County in north-central Nebraska to a pumping station in Steele City, along the Kansas state line. There, it would connect with the existing Keystone pipeline to haul Canadian crude oil from Hardisty, Alberta, to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The original Keystone tracks farther east, from Cedar County almost directly south to Steele City.

Ken Winston, a lawyer for the Sierra Club and Bold Nebraska, tried Thursday to force TransCanada to provide more data on an alternate route that would closely follow the original Keystone pipeline.

Retired Judge Karen Flowers, presiding over the hearing under contract with the PSC, denied Winston's request.