Federal Energy Regulatory Commission et al. v. Mississippi et al. (456 U.S. 742)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 1, 1982 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 456 U.S. 742 · 102 S. Ct. 2126
- Decided
- June 1, 1982
- Term
- October Term 1981
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Blackmun
- Issue area
- Federalism
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court. In this case, appellees successfully challenged the constitutionality of Titles I and III, and of § 210 of Title II, of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, Pub. L. 95-617, 92 Stat. 3117 (PURPA or Act). We conclude that appellees’ challenge lacks merit and we reverse the judgment below. I On November 9, 1978, President Carter signed PURPA into law. The Act was part of a package of legislation, approved the same day, designed to combat the nationwide energy crisis. At the time, it was said that the generation of electricity consumed more than 25% of all energy resources used in the United States. S. Rep. No. 95-442, p. 7 (1977). Approximately one-third of the electricity in this country was generated through use of oil and natural gas, and electricity generation was one of the fastest growing segments of the Nation’s economy. S. Rep. No. 95-361, p. 32 (1977). In part because of their reliance on oil and gas, electricity utilities were plagued with increasing costs and decreasing efficiency in the use of their generating capacities; each of these factors had an adverse effect on rates to consumers and on the economy as a whole. S. Rep. No. 95-442, at 9. Congress accordingly determined that conservation by electricity utilities of oil and natural gas was essential to the success of any effort to lessen the…
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