FERC Judicial Review Tracker

This track­er was launched February 14, 2022. It was last updat­ed September 1, 2022.

The State Energy & Environmental Impact Center has created this tracker to collect court decisions reviewing orders of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).1 This tracker will be updated as new decisions are issued. It will also be expanded to cover earlier years.

Background

Under the statutes governing judicial review of FERC orders, the Federal Power Act and the Natural Gas Act, an aggrieved party must seek rehearing from FERC before filing a petition for review.2 Court decisions reviewing FERC orders thus typically review two orders – an order, and an order on rehearing.

FERC is composed of five members, with no more than 3 from any one political party. The chair is determined by the president.3 FERC must have a quorum of three commissioners participating to take an action. A commissioner might not participate in a case if they are recused due to a conflict or other issue.

In this tracker, we include the history of the FERC orders on review. We list the Commissioner composition and Chair at the time of the final FERC order that was subject to the court decision. And we note which orders include a dissent or partial dissent (commissioners also sometimes concur, but we have not separately listed that data in this tracker for brevity’s sake).

117 cases match your search. 13 were granted, 90 were denied, 13 were granted in part, denied in part.   Download as CSV

Bold Alliance v. FERC 9/28/2018

Judicial Review

Court
Judge Ideology 4
Case Type
Petitioner Type
Outcome
Republican
Gas
NGO
Denied

Petition challenging FERC issuance of certificates for exercise of eminent domain rights for two natural gas pipelines, dismissed pursuant to motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

FERC Proceeding

Commissioner Composition 5
Chair 6
Participating Commissioners
Dissenting Commissioners 7
Republican
McIntyre
5
2

FERC Orders on Review

Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC, 161 FERC ¶ 61,043 (2017), reh’g denied, 163 FERC ¶ 61,197 (2018).

ANR Storage Company v. FERC 9/21/2018

Judicial Review

Court
Judge Ideology
Case Type
Petitioner Type
Outcome
D.C. Circuit
Republican
Gas
Industry
Granted

Petition challenging FERC refusal to allow natural gas storage company to charge market based rates because it failed to prove a lack of market power granted and remanded.

FERC Proceeding

Commissioner Composition
Chair
Participating Commissioners
Dissenting Commissioners
Split
Bay
4
0

FERC Orders on Review

ANR Storage Co., 153 FERC ¶ 61,052 (2015), order on reh’g, 155 FERC ¶ 61,279 (2016).

NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, et al. v. FERC 7/31/2018

Judicial Review

Court
Judge Ideology
Case Type
Petitioner Type
Outcome
D.C. Circuit
Republican
Electric
Industry
Denied

Petition challenging FERC orders approving limited exemption for qualifying renewable energy to the minimum offer price rule in forward capacity market denied.

FERC Proceeding

Commissioner Composition
Chair
Participating Commissioners
Dissenting Commissioners
Democrat
LaFleur (Acting)
3
0

FERC Orders on Review

ISO New England Inc., 147 FERC ¶ 61,173 (2014), reh’g denied, 150 FERC
¶ 61,065 (2015); ISO ISO New England Inc., 155 FERC ¶ 61,023(2016), reh’g denied, 158 FERC ¶ 61,138 (2017).

Verso Corporation v. FERC 7/31/2018

Judicial Review

Court
Judge Ideology
Case Type
Petitioner Type
Outcome
D.C. Circuit
Democrat
Electric
Industry
Denied

Petition challenging FERC orders approving a new methodology for calculating system support resource cost allocations and reallocating costs among customers denied.

FERC Proceeding

Commissioner Composition
Chair
Participating Commissioners
Dissenting Commissioners
Democrat
Bay
3
0

FERC Orders on Review

Public Service Commission of Wisconsin v. Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc., 150 FERC ¶ 61,104 (2015), reh’g denied, 156 FERC ¶ 61,205 (2016).

City of Boston Delegation v. FERC 7/27/2018

Judicial Review

Court
Judge Ideology
Case Type
Petitioner Type
Outcome
D.C. Circuit
Republican
Gas
Local Gov; NGO
Denied

Petition challenging FERC approval of proposed natural gas pipeline upgrade as failing to sufficiently weigh and consider environmental impacts and the public interest denied in part for lack of standing and in part on the merits.

FERC Proceeding

Commissioner Composition
Chair
Participating Commissioners
Dissenting Commissioners
Democrat
Bay
4
0

FERC Orders on Review

Algonquin Gas Transmission, LLC, 150 FERC ¶ 61,163 (2015), reh’g denied, 154 FERC ¶ 61,048 (2016).

Utility Workers Union of America Local 464 and Robert Clark v. FERC 7/24/2018

Judicial Review

Court
Judge Ideology
Case Type
Petitioner Type
Outcome
D.C. Circuit
Democrat
Electric
Other
Denied

Petition challenging FERC approval of forward capacity auctions in which auction clearing prices rose due to the retirement of a coal power plant denied for lack of standing.

FERC Proceeding

Commissioner Composition
Chair
Participating Commissioners
Dissenting Commissioners
Democrat
Bay
3
0

FERC Orders on Review

ISO New England, 151 FERC ¶ 61,226 (2015), reh’g denied, 153 FERC ¶ 61,378 (2015); ISO New England, 155 FERC ¶ 61,273 (2016), reh’g denied, 157 FERC ¶ 61,060 (2016).

Big Bend Conservation Alliance v. FERC 7/17/2018

Judicial Review

Court
Judge Ideology
Case Type
Petitioner Type
Outcome
D.C. Circuit
Democrat
Gas
NGO
Denied

Petition challenging FERC authorization of natural gas export facilities on the US-Mexico border on the basis of its connection to a Texas intrastate pipeline. Claim that intrastate pipeline itself is an export facility denied for failure to raise with FERC on rehearing (lack of jurisdiction). Claim that FERC should regulate the pipeline because it is interstate denied. Claim that pipeline should be subject to NEPA review denied.

FERC Proceeding

Commissioner Composition
Chair
Participating Commissioners
Dissenting Commissioners
Democrat
Bay
3
0

FERC Orders on Review

Trans-Pecos Pipeline, LLC, 155 FERC ¶ 61,140 (2016), reh’g denied, 157 FERC ¶ 61,081 (2016).

United Airlines, Inc. and UPS Fuel Services, Inc. v. FERC, and the United States of America 7/17/2018

Judicial Review

Court
Judge Ideology
Case Type
Petitioner Type
Outcome
D.C. Circuit
Democrat
Petroleum
Industry
Denied

Petition challenging FERC ruling that it lacked jurisdiction to compel Enterprise pipeline company to reverse its abandonment of interstate jet fuel transportation denied for lack of standing.

FERC Proceeding

Commissioner Composition
Chair
Participating Commissioners
Dissenting Commissioners
Democrat
Bay
4
0

FERC Orders on Review

CHS Inc. v. Enter. TE Prods. Pipeline Co., LLC, 145 FERC ¶ 61,056 (2013), reh’g denied, 155 FERC ¶ 61,178 (2016).

Delaware Riverkeeper Network and Maya Van Rossum, the Delware Riverkeeper v. FERC, et al. 7/10/2018

Judicial Review

Court
Judge Ideology
Case Type
Petitioner Type
Outcome
D.C. Circuit
Republican
Gas
NGO
Denied

Petition raising 5th Amendment due process challenges to FERC’s statutory funding structure (requiring recovery of costs from regulated entities) as violating environmental liberty and property interests under Pennsylvania law and to FERC’s use of tolling orders denied.

FERC Proceeding

Commissioner Composition
Chair
Participating Commissioners
Dissenting Commissioners

FERC Orders on Review

None

American Rivers and Alabama Rivers Alliance v. FERC and United States Secretary of the Interior 7/6/2018

Judicial Review

Court
Judge Ideology
Case Type
Petitioner Type
Outcome
D.C. Circuit
Democrat
Hydro
NGO
Granted in part, denied in part

Consolidated petitions challenging FERC decisions licensing hydroelectric project as violating NEPA and the Federal Power Act and challenging a Fish and Wildlife Service biological opinion upon which FERC relied as violating the Endangered Species Act. Initial petition denied for a lack of jurisdiction (brought while FERC proceedings were ongoing), subsequent petition raising the same claims granted.

FERC Proceeding

Commissioner Composition
Chair
Participating Commissioners
Dissenting Commissioners
Democrat
Bay
4
0

FERC Orders on Review

Alabama Power Company, 143 FERC ¶ 61,249 (2013), order on reh’g, 155 FERC ¶ 61,080 (2016), reh’g denied, 156 FERC ¶ 61,171 (2016).

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  1. Court decisions are gathered from FERC’s website.
  2. 15 U.S.C. § 717r; 16 U.S.C. § 825l.
  3. The list of current and previous chairs is available here.
  4. This tracker uses the affiliation of the president who nominated the reviewing judge as a proxy for the judge’s ideology. If the decision was issued by a panel of judges that were not all nominated by a president of the same political party, we have indicated the party affiliation of the president for the majority of judges on the panel.
  5. This indicates the political party affiliation of the majority of the FERC commissioners participating in the last decision on review in the relevant court case. “Split” indicates that there was an even number of Democrats and Republicans on the Commission at the time.
  6. This indicates the FERC chair at the time of the last decision on review in the relevant court case.
  7. This includes Commissioners who dissented in part from the order or concurred in part and dissented in part.