Brief Amicus Curiae of Electrical Engineers, Energy Economists and Physicists in Support of Respondents in No. 00-568
Article from: OGEL 4 (2004), in Economic and Commercial Context for Oil, Gas and Energy Law
Summary of Argument
Congress wrote the Federal Power Act ("FPA") in the language of electrical engineers and mandated that federal jurisdiction follow the flow of electric energy - an engineering and scientific, rather than a legalistic or governmental, test. Yet the state public service commissions ("PUCs") challenging FERC's jurisdiction under Order 888 misunderstand the physics of electric energy and how it is transmitted, and therefore misapply the FPA's test for federal jurisdiction. The PUCs base their argument for restrictions on FERC jurisdiction on an inaccurate and misleading metaphor. They ...