Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
NGL Supply Wholesale, L.L.C. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, et al.
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, No. 20-1330 · judgment January 25, 2022
Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.
Question presented
With the aid of a unique form of judicial deference, Phillips Pipeline LLC (“Phillips Pipeline”) has transformed what should be a common-carriage pipeline into a monopoly that serves only its affiliate, Phillips 66 Company (“P66”). Previously, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) had considered and rejected similar ploys to sidestep the statutory requirement that common carriers provide transportation to all customers upon reasonable request. Here, however, the Commission ignored those precedents and pivoted to a narrow reading of its jurisdiction that excludes even market-cornering behavior by an affiliated corporation. The D.C. Circuit affirmed this approach by “defer[ring] . . . to the Commission’s interpretation of its own precedent.” App. 6. This novel form of deference, embraced in the Sixth and D.C. Circuits, first arose in Cassell v. FCC, 154 F.3d 478 (D.C. Cir. 1998), decided the year after this Court decided Auer v. Robbins, 519 U.S. 452 (1997). The question presented is: Did the D.C. Circuit err in deferring to FERC’s “interpretation of its own precedent” in the absence of a reasoned explanation for departing from the standards embodied in those precedents?
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Dominic Emil Draye
Greenberg Traurig LLP
For respondent
Jeffrey L. Oldham
Bracewell LLP
Proceedings
- Dec 05 2022Petition DENIED. Justice Alito took no part in the consideration or decision of this petition.
- Nov 15 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 12/2/2022.
- Nov 10 2022Reply of petitioner NGL Supply Wholesale, L.L.C. filed. (Distributed)
- Oct 28 2022Brief of Phillips 66 Pipeline LLC and Phillips 66 Company in opposition not accepted for filing. (October 31, 2022)
- Oct 28 2022Brief of respondents Phillips 66 Pipeline LLC and Phillips 66 Company in opposition filed.
- Oct 28 2022Brief of respondent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in opposition filed.
- Sep 21 2022Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including October 28, 2022, for all respondents.
- Sep 20 2022Motion to extend the time to file a response from September 28, 2022 to October 28, 2022, submitted to The Clerk.
- Aug 29 2022Brief amici curiae of Oklahoma, et al. filed.
- Aug 23 2022The motions to extend the time to file responses are granted and the time is extended to and including September 28, 2022, for all respondents.
- Aug 22 2022Motion of the Solicitor General to extend the time to file a response from August 29, 2022 to September 28, 2022, submitted to The Clerk.
- Aug 22 2022Motion of Phillips 66 Pipeline LLC, et al. to extend the time to file a response from August 29, 2022 to September 28, 2022, submitted to The Clerk.
- Jul 26 2022Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due August 29, 2022)
- Jun 23 2022Application (21A844) granted by The Chief Justice extending the time to file until July 26, 2022.
- Jun 06 2022Application (21A844) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from June 26, 2022 to July 26, 2022, submitted to The Chief Justice.