June 2011

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously (8-0) today, in the case of American Electric Power v. Connecticut, that the Clean Air Act (CAA) and EPA's implementing regulations have displaced federal common law related to the control of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  The Court was split 4-4 on the separate question of whether the plaintiffs had standing to bring the case at all (Justice Sotomayor recused herself from consideration of the case since she heard arguments on it while on Second Circuit).  The even split among the Justices on the issue of standing resulted in an affirmation of the Second Circuit's holding that climate change lawsuits can be subject to the jurisdiction of federal courts. read more

The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) issued a report this week analyzing the impact of new and pending regulations under the Clean Air Act (CAA) on the reliability of the country's electric system.  The report's conclusion is that the reliability impacts will be "manageable" and that tools are available to address localized reliability issues.  However, the report also warns that careful planning will be required by utilities and regulators to apply these tools and to minimize increases in electricity prices resulting from the new rules.  This report comes on the heels of announcements by several large utilities of their intent to shut down coal plants as a result of EPA's overly ambitious agenda. read more

Last week, Arizona Public Service Co. (APS) filed a new rate case with the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC).  The filing proposes raising electricity rates on all classes of customers to support the utility's efforts to improve its system's sustainability and reliability.  The filing also proposes, for the first time in Arizona, the establishment of an "Efficiency and Infrastructure Account" that aims to allow APS to recover costs that it spends on energy efficiency efforts. read more