by Miriam R. Nemetz and Robert L. Bronston
Recently, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in two cases of potential interest to the business community. Amicus briefs in support of the petitioners are due on Monday, March 3, 2003, and amicus briefs in support of the respondents are due on Wednesday, April 2, 2003.
1. Public Utilities - Preemption - Recovery of Rates Allocated by FERC.
The Supreme Court granted certiorari in Entergy Louisiana Inc. v. Louisiana Public Service Commission, No. 02-299, to decide whether a state public utility commission has jurisdiction to deny an electric utility member of a multi-state power system the right to recover, in its retail rates, payments made to other utilities under a System Agreement approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC"), based on the state commission’s decision that the payments did not comply with the System Agreement and thus that it was "imprudent" for the utility to incur those costs.
