Category — Court Rulings

In a July 23, 2010 opinion, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) denied several appeals regarding the Calfornia Independent System Operator Corporation’s (“CA ISO”) Market Redesign and Technology Upgrade (“MRTU”) initiative, in which the CA ISO overhauled its tariff, markets and the technology it employs to administer those markets.  [Read more →]

On May 28, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (“Fifth Circuit”) handed the utility, chemical, and oil and gas industry a victory by dismissing the appeal in Comer v. Murphy Oil (“Comer”).   [Read more →]

On May 4, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (the “DC Circuit”) vacated and remanded a decision by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) requiring the California Independent System Operator (“CAISO”) to alter its open access transmission tariff to comply with FERC’s station-power netting requirements.  [Read more →]

On March 5, 2010, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied rehearing en banc of its decision in Connecticut v. American Electric Power to allow nuisance claims against emitters of greenhouse gases (GHG).  The 2nd Circuit’s decision comes approximately one week after the 5th Circuit announced it will reconsider its October ruling, Comer v. Murphy Oil, which had also allowed individuals to sue large emitters of GHG for damage caused by climate change. A third tort case based on GHG emissions, Native Village of Kivalina v. Exxon Mobil Corp., is still pending in the Ninth Circuit.  A more complete discussion of these cases may be found here.  [Read more →]

On March 9, 2010, the Supreme Court of Wyoming ruled that Basin Electric Power Cooperative can continue with construction of its new Dry Fork Station coal-fired power plant near Gillette, Wyoming.  Finding that the state did not have to require best available technologies for controlling carbon dioxide emissions, the court rejected a challenge to the state-issued air permit brought by Earthjustice on behalf of the Powder River Basin Resource Council and the Sierra Club. [Read more →]