The Ninth Circuit granted in part and denied in part a petition to review FERC orders that altered which facilities qualify for benefits under the Public Utility Regulatory Policy Act (PURPA) and how those facilities are compensated. An industry group and several environmental groups argued the orde...

The Fifth Circuit, 2-1, granted a petition to review FERC orders it previously vacated and remanded, which instructed utilities in the WestConnect transmission planning region on how to implement a cost allocation scheme for grid improvements in the region. A utility company argued the orders, which...

A district court granted DOI's and the Army Corps of Engineers' motion to dismiss a lawsuit concerning construction of a wind farm off the coast of New York. Four homeowners sought to halt construction, claiming that onshore trenching associated with the project would worsen existing perfluoroalkyl ...

The D.C. Circuit granted in part and denied in part a petition to review FERC orders that permitted the creation of a new energy transmission service across several states in the Southeast. The first, the Deadlock Order, was adopted when the commissioners deadlocked 2-2 on whether the overall propos...

The D.C. Circuit vacated DOE's 2020 rule establishing more stringent energy efficiency standards for commercial packaged boilers, and its 2022 supplemental document responding to the court's previous remand order that it address comments raised during the rulemaking process. Industry groups argued D...

The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court's dismissal of an industry group's challenge to the city of Berkeley's natural gas hookup ban. The group argued the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) preempted the ban, which enacted a building code prohibiting installation of natural gas p...

The D.C. Circuit, 2-1, denied electric utility companies' challenge to FERC's order granting a solar company's application for certification of its solar array and battery storage facility in Montana as a qualifying facility under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA). The companies arg...

A district court granted summary judgment for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in a challenge to its long-term contracts with local power companies. Conservation groups argued that the 20-year contracts, which contained automatic renewal provisions and flexibility provisions allowing the compani...

The Fifth Circuit ordered FERC to provide a meaningful explanation for the length of time it takes for final action in Federal Power Act §206 complaint proceedings, in a lawsuit concerning complaints that have gone four to six years without resolution. The Louisiana Public Service Commission petiti...

A district court granted a company's motion to preliminarily enjoin a Louisiana parish from enforcing a 12-month moratorium on activities related to well drilling on parish land. The company moved for an injunction prohibiting enforcement of the moratorium insofar as it banned seismic surveys, Class...