DTE Energy Co. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

394 F.3d 954, 364 U.S. App. D.C. 310, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 671, 2005 WL 77030
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedJanuary 14, 2005
Docket04-1020
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 394 F.3d 954 (DTE Energy Co. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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DTE Energy Co. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 394 F.3d 954, 364 U.S. App. D.C. 310, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 671, 2005 WL 77030 (D.C. Cir. 2005).

Opinion

ROGERS, Circuit Judges.

The DTE Energy Company and the Detroit Edison Company (“Detroit Edison”) petition for. review of three orders of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ruling that certain distribution and interconnection facilities are transmission facilities subject to the Commission’s exclusive jurisdiction. DTE’s petition is not properly before the court because it failed to seek *956 rehearing or petition for review of its aggrieving order. See 16 U.S.C. § 825i(b). Detroit Edison’s petition for review of two orders is properly before the court, and it contends the Commission acted arbitrarily and capriciously because the facilities at issue are “dual-use” local distribution/transmission facilities and should therefore be subject to the shared jurisdiction of the Commission and the State of Michigan. Ordinarily, this would occasion our review of the Commission’s application of its seven-factor jurisdictional test adopted in Order No. 888, 1 which the Commission asserts it applied here. However, because Detroit Edison failed to argue in its petition for rehearing that the Commission misapplied the seven-factor test, the court lacks jurisdiction to consider it now. Instead, Detroit Edison raised on rehearing, as it does on appeal, a substantial evidence challenge to the Commission’s factual findings and a collateral attack on the Commission’s single-jurisdictional approach. Accordingly, we deny the petition because the Commission’s findings in support of its jurisdictional conclusion are supported by substantial evidence in the record and its collateral attack is precluded.

I.

A.

Section 201 of the Federal Power Act (“FPA”), 16 U.S.C. § 824(b)(1), empowers the Commission to regulate both wholesale sales of electric energy in interstate commerce and interstate electric energy transmissions, by vesting it with “jurisdiction over all facilities for such transmission or sale of electric energy.” It also reserves regulatory authority to the states over bundled retail transactions, including the intrastate sale and distribution of electricity through local distribution facilities. Id. In Transmission Access Policy Study Group v. FERC, 225 F.3d 667 (D.C.Cir. 2000) (“TAPS"), the court affirmed Order No. 888 in relevant part, deferring to the Commission’s interpretation of Section 201 of the FPA to accommodate new industry practices and conditions. Id. at 694-95. In Order No. 888, the Commission adopted a seven-factor jurisdictional test to identify unbundled retail-wheeling facilities primarily engaged in local distribution; the Commission claimed exclusive jurisdiction over all other facilities. 2 Id. at 691. Thereaf *957 ter, in New York v. FERC, 535 U.S. 1, 122 S.Ct. 1012, 152 L.Ed.2d 47 (2002), the Supreme Court affirmed. By rejecting New York’s contention that the dividing line between regulatory authority of the states and the Commission falls between wholesale and retail markets, id. at 17, 122 S.Ct. at 1022-23, the Court implicitly approved the Commission’s single-jurisdictional approach over multi-use unbundled retail-wheeling facilities, see id. at 22-23, 122 S.Ct. at 1025-26.

Accordingly, the Commission has applied Order No. 888’s seven-factor test to determine jurisdictional authority over utilities providing unbundled retail services. 3 See TAPS, 225 F.3d at 691. When the Commission recently ignored the seven-factor test to resolve such jurisdictional questions, the court rejected, as contrary to the statute and precedent, the Commission’s attempt to expand its jurisdiction to set rates for all services occurring over facilities used for both retail and wholesale distribution, expressing concern that “the orders under review totally ignore Order No. 888’s carefully formulated seven-factor test for distinguishing between local distribution facilities and ‘FERC-jurisdictional facilities.’ ” Detroit Edison Co. v. FERC, 334 F.3d 48, 54 (D.C.Cir.2003) (“Detroit Edison”).

B.

The instant appeal arises in the context of the Commission’s efforts to establish a regional transmission organization (“RTO”) to integrate the Midwest wholesale electricity market. In response to rising energy costs in the Midwest, the Commission, facilitated the development of a Midwest RTO and the integration of for-profit transmission companies to operate under the RTO umbrella. See generally Pub. Util. Dist. No. 1 v. FERC, 272 F.3d 607 (D.C.Cir.2001). After evaluating competing proposals, the Commission determined that Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc. (“Midwest ISO”) should serve as the foundation for the Midwest RTO.

Detroit Edison and International Transmission. (“IT”) were both wholly owned subsidiaries of DTE Energy. Detroit Edison operates as DTE Energy’s public utility, engaged in the generation, transmission, and distribution of energy in Michigan. DTE Energy Co., 2000 WL 869720, 91 F.E.R.C. ¶ 61,317, 62,909 (2000). DTE Energy created IT with the purpose of acquiring ownership of Detroit Edison’s transmission assets as a first effort to divest its transmission business to an entity qualified to join the Midwest RTO. See id. Thus, on May 4, 2000, DTE, Detroit Edison, and IT sought and received the Commission’s authorization to transfer Detroit Edison’s transmission facilities with voltage ratings of 120 kV and above to IT. Id. Following the January 1, 2001 transfer, IT’s transmission facilities, interconnected with those of Michigan Electric Transmission Company, together comprised substantially all of the Michigan Transmission grid. Int’l Transmis *958 sion Co., 2001 WL 34078698, 97 F.E.R.C. ¶ 61,328, 62,534 (2001).

Pursuant to the Commission’s approval of Midwest ISO as the regional RTO, IT applied for and received by Order of December 20, 2001, the Commission’s authorization to transfer to Midwest ISO functional control over IT’s jurisdictional transmission facilities.

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394 F.3d 954, 364 U.S. App. D.C. 310, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 671, 2005 WL 77030, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dte-energy-co-v-federal-energy-regulatory-commission-cadc-2005.