Third Circuit Bars Claims Against Colonial Based On Filed Rate Doctrine

On October 5, the Third Circuit issued a precedential opinion in  George E. Warren LLC v. Colonial Pipeline Co.  affirming dismissal of a significant lawsuit against our client, Colonial Pipeline Company, based on the filed rate doctrine. The case builds upon an earlier filed rate doctrine case Steptoe litigated in the First Circuit, Breiding v. Eversource Energy, 939 F.3d 47 (1st Cir. 2019), and demonstrates the power of the filed rate doctrine as a defense in litigation for regulated energy companies.    

A pipeline shipper, George E. Warren LLC (GEW), challenged the practice of blending butane into the stream of gasoline moving through the pipeline as unlawfully reducing the value of gasoline GEW received from Colonial by reducing its "blend margin." GEW asserted claims under the Carmack Amendment and state tort law against Colonial and a related joint venture, Powder Springs Logistics.