Aluminum Company of America et al. v. Central Lincoln Peoples' Utility District et al. (467 U.S. 380)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 5, 1984 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 467 U.S. 380 · 104 S. Ct. 2472
- Decided
- June 5, 1984
- Term
- October Term 1983
- Vote
- 8–1
- Majority author
- Justice Blackmun
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court. Since enactment of the Bonneville Project Act of 1937, 50 Stat. 781, 16 U. S. C. §832 et seq. (Project Act), the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has marketed low-cost hydroelectric power generated by a series of dams along the Columbia River. Although § 4(a) of the Project Act, 16 U. S. C. §832c(a), directs the BPA Administrator to “give preference and priority to public bodies and cooperatives” when selling its power, BPA for many years enjoyed a surplus of power that allowed it to satisfy the needs of all customers in the region. As demand for power increased to exceed BPA’s generating capability, however, the allocation of low-cost federal power became an issue of significant area concern. In 1980, Congress moved to avert what appeared to be an emerging customer struggle for BPA power by enacting the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act, 94 Stat. 2697, 16 U. S. C. §839 et seq. (Regional Act). That Act required BPA to offer new contracts to its several customers. Some of the respondents brought this suit to challenge the new contracts that BPA signed with certain customers. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the contracts violated the statute. We now reverse that judgment, and remand the case to the Court of Appeals for further proceedings. I Before…
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