Hughes v. PPL Energyplus (578 U.S. 150)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 19, 2016 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 578 U.S. 150 · 136 S. Ct. 1288
- Decided
- April 19, 2016
- Term
- October Term 2015
- Vote
- 8–0
- Majority author
- Justice Ginsburg
- Issue area
- Federalism
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice GINSBURG delivered the opinion of the Court. The Federal Power Act (FPA), 41 Stat. 1063, as amended, 16 U.S.C. § 791a et seq., vests in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) exclusive jurisdiction over wholesale sales of electricity in the interstate market. FERC's regulatory scheme includes an auction-based market mechanism to ensure wholesale rates that are just and reasonable. FERC's scheme, in Maryland's view, provided insufficient incentive for new electricity generation in the State. Maryland therefore enacted its own regulatory program. Maryland's program provides subsidies, through state-mandated contracts, to a new generator, but conditions receipt of those subsidies on the new generator selling capacity into a FERC-regulated wholesale auction. In a suit initiated by competitors of Maryland's new electricity generator, the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that Maryland's scheme impermissibly intrudes upon the wholesale electricity market, a domain Congress reserved to FERC alone. We affirm the Fourth Circuit's judgment. I A Under the FPA, FERC has exclusive authority to regulate "the sale of electric energy at wholesale in interstate commerce." § 824(b)(1). A wholesale sale is defined as a "sale of electric energy to any person for resale." § 824(d). The FPA assigns to FERC responsibility for ensuring that "[a]ll rates and charges made,…
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