The Georgia Court of Appeals has affirmed Georgia Power Company’s “grandfather” rights to provide electric service to a manufacturing/warehouse facility that had been expanded and renovated over the years, but not...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has recently confirmed the validity of term provisions in wholesale power contracts between generation and transmission cooperatives and their member distribution cooperatives....more
The Fulton County Superior Court has reversed a decision of the Georgia Public Service Commission in a case addressing whether substantial renovations extinguish grandfather rights under the Georgia Territorial Act.
The...more
Courts in South Carolina and South Dakota have recently recognized the validity of term provisions in wholesale power contracts between generation and transmission cooperatives and their member distribution cooperatives. ...more
The Tenth Circuit has recently joined its sister circuits, the Fourth Circuit and Ninth Circuit, in finding that federal courts do not have subject-matter jurisdiction over state-law nuisance claims. A Colorado climate-change...more
The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) recently ruled in favor of Walton EMC in a dispute arising from a textile manufacturing plant that was transformed into a plant producing pet food. Georgia Power Company v. Walton...more
Over the past decade or more, plaintiffs have sought to “hold companies accountable” for their supposed contributions to climate change. Having been rebuffed from bringing claims in federal court under federal common law,...more
The City of LaGrange, Georgia, owns and operates a water supply system. It provides water service both within its corporate limits and beyond. In many areas outside city limits, the City is the sole provider of water service....more
A recent Alabama Supreme Court decision has handed an important victory to electric cooperatives defending their patronage capital practices in the state. The court affirmed the trial court’s dismissal in Recherche LLC v....more
The federal courts of appeals have generally recognized that electric cooperatives can retire patronage capital to their members through means other than annual cash payments. For example, the US Court of Appeals for the...more
10/19/2018
/ Appeals ,
Breach of Contract ,
Bylaws ,
Dismissals ,
Electric Cooperative ,
Federal Funding ,
Jurisdiction ,
Patronage Capital ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Removal ,
Utilities Sector
On March 23, 2018, the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) ruled in favor of GreyStone Power Corporation in a Territorial Act dispute with Georgia Power. The dispute arose when Georgia Power extended service to a building...more
Pennsylvania’s REA Energy Cooperative, Inc. obtained dismissal of a putative class action lawsuit last year, a decision that was recently confirmed by the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The...more
The North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network (NC WARN), a Durham, North Carolina based activist group, has filed an appeal of a North Carolina Court of Appeals decision upholding the North Carolina Utilities...more
The 2017 hurricane season has already had a significant impact, with Hurricanes Harvey and Irma causing billions of dollars of damage in Texas and Florida. And more hurricanes are likely on the way. ...more
The Georgia Court of Appeals has affirmed the dismissal of two class action patronage capital lawsuits against Oglethorpe Power Corporation, Georgia Transmission Corporation (GTC), and certain distribution electric membership...more
Cooperatives facing patronage capital lawsuits have recently enjoyed a series of favorable court opinions. Over the past few months, the Eleventh Circuit and state and federal courts in Florida have all dismissed claims for...more
In December 2015, two plaintiffs filed a class action complaint against Pennsylvania’s REA Energy Cooperative, Inc. The complaint, which was filed on behalf of current and former cooperative members, asserted that REA must...more
On May 2, a trial court in DeKalb County, Georgia, dismissed two class action patronage capital lawsuits filed against Oglethorpe Power Corporation, Georgia Transmission Corporation (GTC) and certain distribution electric...more
The North Carolina Utilities Commission recently ruled that third-party sales of solar-generated electricity violate state law. The Commission rejected a test case brought by an advocacy group seeking to legitimize such...more
On December 15, 2015, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that the U.S. Coast Guard could impose nonfinancial conditions, in addition to a bond, before permitting ships under suspicion of a MARPOL...more
As previously reported, on April 3, 2015, a hearing officer of the Georgia Public Service Commission issued an initial decision in favor of Jackson EMC in its dispute with Georgia Power Company over the right to serve a wood...more
A federal court allowed certain antitrust and state law claims brought by an installer of distributed solar energy systems against Arizona’s Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District (SRP) to move forward...more
Electric utilities and residential solar companies continue to wrangle over charges applicable to rooftop solar customers. Recent filings in rate design cases involving Arizona Public Service Company (APS) and UNS Electric,...more
The clash between residential solar companies and utilities continues to heat up in courts and public utility commissions. As solar technology continues to improve, more households are installing rooftop solar systems. ...more
9/15/2015
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Electricity ,
Net Metering ,
Public Utilities Commission ,
Sherman Act ,
Solar Energy ,
Solar Panels ,
Tariffs ,
The Clayton Act ,
Utilities Sector ,
Utility Rates
A hearing officer of the Georgia Public Service Commission recently decided in favor of Walton EMC in a Territorial Act dispute with Georgia Power over the right to provide electric service to a CVS drugstore in Athens,...more