Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an important ruling clarifying how the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) must apply the Mobile-Sierra doctrine. The Mobile-Sierra doctrine informs how FERC should evaluate whether a contract rate for energy is just and reasonable, and the doctrine provides that FERC’s sole concern should be whether the contract rates being challenged adversely affect the public interest–a high hurdle. Until today, some people questioned whether the Mobile-Sierra doctrine was limited to parties to a contract, and whether non-contracting parties bringing a challenge would be held to a lower standard. The Court, however, made clear that the Mobile-Sierra doctrine should apply to any party (including FERC) challenging whether energy rates are just and reasonable, stating that a presumption that applies to contracting parties only, but not anybody else, fails to establish the contractual stability that Mobile-Sierra aimed to secure.
To read more about today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision, click here.