Sustainable Energy & Infrastructure Litigation Updates — September 2025

Federal Litigation

On August 1, 2025, a federal district court judge rejected the attempt by three major asset managers to dismiss an antitrust complaint filed by a coalition of 11 Republican state attorneys general (and subsequently receiving the support of the Trump administration's DOJ (Antitrust Division) and FTC). This complaint alleged a rather aggressive antitrust theory, namely that the asset managers' adherence to climate-friendly principles — which discourage the use of coal — constituted antitrust violations when considered in tandem with their investments in coal companies, as the companies allegedly used their influence to reduce coal output, thus driving up the price of coal and increasing their profits. The federal district court determined that the complaint had sufficiently pled allegations of an antitrust violation — offering crucial legal endorsement to this aggressive antitrust theory — and so could proceed, including to the discovery phase