Supremes Affirm Supremacy Clause but Point Out Alternatives for States

摘要

Participants in the energy sector know full well that they have been very much in the public spotlight these days, what with the price of oil, calls for renewable energy, and so form. But the energy sector should also know that no less an authority than the US Supreme Court has recently been paying a great deal of attention to the business of energy, particularly as to who may regulate it. Readers shall recall that not long ago in these pages we reviewed recent Court decisions sharply drawing the line between federal and state oversight of the natural gas and electricity industries, respectively. First, the Oneok decision exemplified the principle of federal supremacy over the interstate component of the natural gas industry, as first brought about by Congress with the promulgation of the Natural Gas Act (NGA), while simultaneously leaving intact state authority over predominantly local matters. Oneok was soon followed by EPSA, which reached the parallel conclusion that the interstate electricity market was likewise subject to the supremacy of federal law, as embodied in the Federal Power Act (FPA).