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Louisiana Public Service Commission v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, No. 20-1024 · judgment August 20, 2021

Certiorari denied · June 13, 2022
Pre-decision estimate: 11% cert probability (95% interval 6%–18%)

Before the decision, about 2.6× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a D.C. Circuit decision below, a state or local-government petitioner, and a circuit split argued in the petition.

Questions presented

  1. When all parties to a proceeding at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) enter a contract of settlement that provides for the filing of a tariff amendment and dictates its content, may FERC and a court later interpret the tariff inconsistently with not only the contract, but also the utility’s Filing Letter describing the amendment?

  2. May a court of appeals affirm a FERC ruling for reasons not articulated by FERC, but conceived by the court, and when the court interpreted and, when it connects two “explanatory equivalents,” to mean both or either “ ‘unambiguously,’ ” in conflict with ordinary usage and determinations of this Court and other courts of appeals?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Michael R. Fontham
Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann LLC

For respondent
Dennis Lane
Stinson LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Jun 13 2022
    Petition DENIED. Justice Kavanaugh took no part in the consideration or decision of this petition.
  2. May 24 2022
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/9/2022.
  3. May 13 2022
    Reply of petitioner Louisiana Public Service Commission filed.
    Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service
  4. May 04 2022
    Brief of respondent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in opposition filed.
    Main DocumentCertificate of Word Count
  5. Apr 05 2022
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including May 4, 2022.
  6. Apr 04 2022
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from April 4, 2022 to May 4, 2022, submitted to The Clerk.
    Main Document
  7. Feb 16 2022
    Waiver of right of respondent Arkansas Public Service Commission to respond filed.
    Main Document
  8. Feb 16 2022
    Waiver of right of respondent Entergy Services, LLC to respond filed.
    Main Document
  9. Feb 07 2022
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including April 4, 2022.
  10. Feb 04 2022
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from March 3, 2022 to April 4, 2022, submitted to The Clerk.
    Main Document
  11. Jan 27 2022
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due March 3, 2022)
    PetitionAppendixCertificate of Word CountProof of Service