281 results for 'cat:"Energy"'.
J. Thacker finds the lower court improperly granted judgment to the pipeline. The pipeline project acquired easements on properties along the pipeline’s route through condemnation actions pursuant to the Natural Gas Act. The property in question was encumbered by temporary and permanent easements on 8.37 acres. After the lower court granted the project immediate possession of the easements, the case proceeded to a jury trial to determine the amount of just compensation owed. After hearing from various appraisers, the jury rendered a $523,327 verdict. The lower court agreed with the project that the verdict resulted from the jury improperly mixing expert testimony. The jury’s $523,327 verdict can be supported by credited testimony without mixing different land use valuations, as the lower court assumed. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Thacker, Filed On: May 14, 2024, Case #: 23-1532, Categories: energy, Jury, Property
J. Pillard denies petitions for review filed by the petroleum industry and renewable fuel industry challenging renewable fuel production standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency for 2020 to 2022. The EPA adequately justified its decisions, and the industries fail to show the standards are unreasonable.
Court: DC Circuit, Judge: Pillard, Filed On: May 14, 2024, Case #: 22-1210 , Categories: energy, Environment
J. Perkins finds a lower court improperly ruled in favor of the Arizona Department of Revenue on a solar company's challenge to a deferred tax credit rule. The Department argued that the statutory formula method does not recognize investment tax credits until they are used to reduce income liability tax. However, the solar power facility sufficiently showed in court that investment tax credits are recognized as soon as they are claimed. Reversed.
Court: Arizona Court Of Appeals Division One, Judge: Perkins, Filed On: May 14, 2024, Case #: 1 CA-TX 22-7, Categories: energy, Tax, Agency
J. Vigil finds the energy regulation commission erroneously determined the New Mexico Efficient Use of Energy Act requires a partial revenue decoupling mechanism for energy providers. Only a full decoupling mechanism will allow providers to recoup losses and maintain a budget to provide service to ratepayers in the wake of renewable energy sources that drastically reduce usage. Reversed.
Court: New Mexico Supreme Court, Judge: Vigil, Filed On: May 13, 2024, Case #: S-1-SC-39406, Categories: energy, Government
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J. Nachmanoff grants the power company's motion for summary judgment. Under a master agreement, a cybersecurity company agreed to provide certain equipment, software and services in connection with the power company's participation in a nationwide cybersecurity project for electric utilities known as IronDome. The cybersecurity company assigned the payment agreement to a finance company which eventually sold it to the relevant assignee. The assignee sought to recover unpaid funds from the power company pursuant to a hell-or-high-water clause in the payment agreement but the agreement allowed termination for cause and for convenience. Once the power company no longer needed the cybersecurity company it became inconvenient to still have an agreement with them.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Virginia, Judge: Nachmanoff, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv643, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: energy, Banking / Lending, Contract
J. King grants the gas company's motion to amend its complaint that the county denied the gas company's request for reconsideration even though the gas company expressed concerns about how the approved renewal permit would "have a material adverse impact on BEW, and, if implemented by the County, would effectively deprive BEW of the lawful use of its property.” The gas company may add its Section 1983 claim, which alleges that that the county violated due process by not giving the gas company notice of the application for a renewed industrial wastewater discharge permit, because the county does not show how the gas company's alleged failure to exhaust makes the claim futile.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: King, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv542, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: energy, Contract
J. Crothers finds that the district court properly quieted title to disputed oil and gas interests in favor of defendant company and awarded fees. However, the court improperly required plaintiff company to pay non-legal costs. Affirmed in part.
Court: North Dakota Supreme Court, Judge: Crothers , Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: 2024ND88, Categories: energy, Property
J. McDonald finds the lower court properly upheld the utilities commission's denial of the apartment complex owner's request to use ratio utility billing, which apportions a certain amount to each tenant from a "master" meter at the property, to charge tenants for utility costs. Connecticut law prohibits billing tenants for utilities they did not use exclusively. Affirmed.
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: SC20769, Categories: energy, Landlord Tenant
J. Rice finds that the district court properly upheld a state board decision to grant forced pooling and risk penalties to an oil and gas well operator. The operator made an unsuccessful, good faith attempt to have the owner of the mineral interests voluntarily agree to pooling, as required by law before seeking forced pooling. And the operator made valid written demands giving the owner the opportunity to particpate in the costs of drilling before seeking risk penalties. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Rice, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: DA 23-0289, Categories: energy, Property
J. Wood finds that the lower court properly found for Costco in a suit accusing the wholesale store of violating a Wisconsin law that prohibits selling gasoline for less than the statutorily defined cost. However, Costco claims it only lowered its prices to match a competitor's price, which the law allows, and reasonably asserts that its competitors should not be determined simply based on its geographical location, but also on the addresses-of-record of its members given that many members will travel a distance to take advance of the wholesaler's low prices. Further, the plaintiff gas stations have not shown that Costco's gasoline prices actually caused them injury. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Wood, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 23-1800, Categories: energy, Unfair Competition
[Consolidated.] J. Walker refuses to grant petitions for review filed by environmental groups that challenge the Federal Energy Regulator Commission's certification of an expansion of pipelines and facilities for the Evangeline Pass Expansion Project in the Southeastern U.S. The agency reasonably explained its decision, and the certification was reasonable.
Court: DC Circuit, Judge: Walker, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 22-1101 , Categories: Administrative Law, energy, Environment
J. Smith finds the bankruptcy court improperly denied the Electric Reliability Council's motion to abstain. The energy company filed for bankruptcy after receiving a bill for nearly $300 million resulting from the council's production-incentivizing price manipulation in response to the 2021 winter storm in Texas. The council sought payment and the energy company initiated an adversarial proceeding challenging its proof of claim. The council moved to dismiss, alternatively requesting the bankruptcy court abstain. Though the circuit finds the council is not an arm of the state, and not entitled to immunity, the U.S. Supreme Court requires abstention under guiding case law. Texas’s interest in utility regulation and litigation, and its protection of the electricity-related public interest, is the more significant concern. Reversed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Smith , Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 22-20603, Categories: Administrative Law, Bankruptcy, energy
J. Callahan denies a petition for review of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's decision granting Pacific Gas & Electric's request for an exemption to the deadline for a federal license renewal application for the continued operation of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Callahan, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 23-852, Categories: energy, Licensing
J. Ho finds the district court improperly certified the class of investors alleging the petroleum corporation fraudulently misrepresented the value of its oil field project. During certification proceedings, the investors presented new evidence in a reply brief involving an after-hours disclosure of a dry well, giving the corporation no fair opportunity to address it. The district court failed to permit the corporation to file a sur-reply responding to the evidence. Vacated.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Ho , Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 23-20424, Categories: energy, Fraud, Securities
J. Sannes preserves claims for failure to intervene against two Syracuse police officers stemming from the alleged used of excessive force during the arrest of two local residents, finding material disputes remain as to whether either officer had the opportunity to intervene during the incident. The court however enters judgment in favor of one of the officers on failure to intervene and excessive force claims for actions that took place while transporting the litigants in an ambulance to a local hospital following the arrest, finding he was not involved in any use of force during that time.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Sannes, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 5:19cv995, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: energy, Tort, Police Misconduct
J. Mawla finds that the state agency properly declined to reconsider an order in which the board of public utilities established siting requirements for the competitive solar incentive program for projects that exceed use on covered agricultural land or the county's 5% concentration limits. The program limits are not contained in separate sections of the underlying regulation, and state- and county-wide limits on farmland construction are contained in separate sections. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Mawla , Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: A-2232-22, Categories: energy, Municipal Law
J. McNeill finds that the lower court properly held that a gas company had the right to condemn plaintiff's property to construct a natural gas pipeline because the conservation easement did not protect the land from eminent domain since the action concerned public use and plaintiff received proper compensation.
Court: Kentucky Court Of Appeals, Judge: McNeill, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 2023-CA-0458-MR, Categories: energy, Property
J. Brown finds that the district court properly determined that a gas supplier breached its industrial gas supply contract with a chemical manufacturer and properly awarded $88 million in lost profits. The manufacturer's counsel maintained that he could prove to the jury that the damages claim for lost profits and cover damages were valued at $100 million, and the district court used the proper model for calculating damages. Further, the manufacturer shows that there were lost sales due to the breach of contract based on testimony and evidence. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Brown, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 2022-CA-0777, Categories: energy, Damages, Contract
J. Jensen dismisses an appeal from a district court order and judgment in favor of a company concerning the calculation of nonparticipating royalty interest. A final judgment resolving all of the underlying claims has not been entered in the district court and the matter is therefore dismissed.
Court: North Dakota Supreme Court, Judge: Jensen, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 2024ND68, Categories: energy, Contract
J. Agee finds the lower court improperly interpreted the plain text of the decree. Environmental protection groups sued a now-defunct coal corporation for violating the Clean Water Act. They negotiated a consent decree that significantly limited the corporations' surface mining operations in Central Appalachia and required the company to reclaim its mining sites—that is, to return the mined land to a usable state. The new owner attempted to allow third parties to surface mine at the original corporation's facility to raise funds after inheriting the bankrupt coal corporation. The lower court found this violated the decree, but the decree only applies to the original corporation and does not bar others from using the land as they please. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Agee, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 23-1696, Categories: energy, Environment, Contract
J. Hall trims a class action against an energy services broker that was sued by a group of property owners who say it charged them exorbitant variable monthly rates for gas services following the automatic renewal of their respective agreements. The only claim to survive is one for implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, finding the property owners reasonably expected their rates to be based on current market prices or, at the very least, not double the initial rate after their contracts were renewed.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Hall, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv3664, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: energy, Class Action
[Consolidated.] J. Bright finds the trial court properly dismissed a renewable energy developer’s declaratory and injunctive relief for a lack of standing to assert claims against a competing energy developer and its subsidiary for a construction project. The renewable energy developer alleges the competing energy developer’s bid certification was false but fails to show the fraud, corruption or favoritism that allegedly undermines the bidding process. Affirmed.
Court: Connecticut Court Of Appeals, Judge: Bright, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: AC54620, Categories: Construction, energy, Fraud
J. Golemon finds the trial court improperly granted a permanent injunction to the successor-in-interest to the grantor of pipeline easements. The grantor successor filed suit against the grantee successor after a dispute developed regarding the use of the grantor's roads and bridges. The grantor failed to prove the grantee engaged in a wrongful act causing the grantor irreparable injury. The trial court improperly permanently enjoined the grantee from exercising its rights under the easements. Awards of fees are based on the erroneous conclusion. Reversed in part.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Golemon , Filed On: April 11, 2024, Case #: 09-22-00117-CV, Categories: energy, Property
J. Cox finds that the trial court should not have granted a temporary restraining order to prevent the defendant pipeline operator from constructing a
perpendicular pipeline under plaintiff's pipeline. The plaintiff's servitude did not state that it could prohibit underground crossings. A crossing pipeline that meets applicable spacing, depth separation limits, and other protective requirements is not certain to damage, destroy, injure, or interfere with plaintiff's pipeline. Reversed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Cox, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 55,534-CA, Categories: energy, Restraining Order, Contract
J. Lamberth grants a motion by the Department of the Interior and other federal defendants to sever the offshore wind farm opponents' action seeking to challenge approvals of two such projects into separate actions for each project, and partially grants the projects' developers' motion to intervene. Judicial economy and efficiency factors favor severance, and the claims to be severed do not present common questions of law or fact. The developer of one project is permitted to intervene in this case, but the motion to intervene is denied as to the other project's developer, given the severance of claims related to its project.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Lamberth, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 1:24cv141, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: energy, Environment, Agency