SolarCity Corp. v. Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement & Power District

859 F.3d 720, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 10358, 2017 WL 2508992
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedJune 12, 2017
DocketNo. 15-17302
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 859 F.3d 720 (SolarCity Corp. v. Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement & Power District) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
SolarCity Corp. v. Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement & Power District, 859 F.3d 720, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 10358, 2017 WL 2508992 (9th Cir. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION

FRIEDLAND, Circuit Judge:

Solar-panel supplier SolarCity Corporation filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District (the Power District), alleging that the Power District had attempted to entrench its monopoly by setting prices that disfavored solar-power providers. The Power District moved to dismiss the complaint based on the state-action immunity doctrine. That doctrine insulates states, and in some instances their subdivisions, from federal antitrust liability when they regulate prices in a local industry or otherwise limit competition, as long as they are acting as states in doing so. See, e.g., N.C. State Bd. of Dental Exam’rs v. FTC, — U.S. -, 135 S.Ct. 1101, 1109, 191 L.Ed.2d 35 (2015); FTC v. Phoebe Putney Health Sys., Inc., 568 U.S. 216, 133 S.Ct. 1003, 1007, 185 L.Ed.2d 43 (2013); Parker v. Brown, 317 U.S. 341, 352, 63 S.Ct. 307, 87 L.Ed. 315 (1943).

The district court denied the motion, and the Power District appealed. We must decide whether we can consider the appeal immediately under the collateral-order doctrine, or whether any appeal based on state-action immunity must await final judgment.1 We join the Fourth and Sixth Circuits in holding that the collateral-order doctrine does not allow an immediate appeal of an order denying a dismissal motion based on state-action immunity.

I

SolarCity sells and leases rooftop solar-energy panels. These solar panels allow its customers to reduce but not eliminate the amount of electricity they buy from other sources.

Many SolarCity customers and prospective customers live near Phoenix, Arizona, where the Power District is the only supplier of traditional electrical power. Allegedly to prevent SolarCity from installing more panels, the Power District changed [723]*723its rates. Under the new pricing structure, any customer who obtains power from his own system must pay a prohibitively large penalty. As a result, SolarCity claims, solar panel retailers received ninety-six percent fewer applications for new solar-panel systems in the Power District’s territory after the new rates took effect.

SolarCity filed a complaint in federal district court in Arizona. Among other claims, it alleged that the Power District had violated the Sherman and Clayton Acts because it had attempted to maintain a monopoly over the supply of electrical power in its territory.

The Power District is not only a supplier of power; it is also a political subdivision of Arizona. See Ariz.- Rev. Stat. § 48-2302; accord, e.g., City of Mesa v. Salt River Project Agric. Improv. & Power Dist., 101 Ariz. 74, 416 P.2d 187, 188-89 (1966) (summarizing the Power District’s history and status); Salt River Project Agric. Improv. & Power Dist. v. City of Phoenix, 129 Ariz. 398, 631 P.2d 553, 555 (1981) (same). It moved to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), arguing, among other things, that it has authority to set prices under Arizona law and so is immune from federal antitrust lawsuits. The district court denied the motion, citing uncertainties about the specifics of the Power District’s state-law authority and business. The district court also decided not to certify an interlocutory appeal, but the Power District appealed nonetheless.

II

Federal circuit courts have jurisdiction over appeals from “final decisions” of district courts. Mohawk Indus., Inc. v. Carpenter, 558 U.S. 100, 103, 130 S.Ct. 599, 175 L.Ed.2d 458 (2009) (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 1291). “A ‘final decision’ is typically one ‘by which a district court disassociates itself from a case.’ ” Id. at 106, 130 S.Ct. 599 (alteration omitted) (quoting Swint v. Chambers Cty. Comm’n, 514 U.S. 35, 42, 115 S.Ct. 1203, 131 L.Ed.2d 60 (1995)). If non-final decisions were generally appealable, cases could be interrupted and trials postponed indefinitely as enterprising appellants bounced matters between the district and appellate courts. Bank of Columbia v. Sweeny, 26 U.S. (1. Pet.) 567, 569, 7 L.Ed. 265 (1828); Alaska v. United States, 64 F.3d 1352, 1357-58 & n.9 (9th Cir. 1995). Costs would be inflated by such a multiplication of proceedings, Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Risjord, 449 U.S. 368, 374, 101 S.Ct. 669, 66 L.Ed.2d 571 (1981), and district courts would be inhibited in their ability to manage litigation efficiently, Richardson-Merrell, Inc. v. Koller, 472 U.S. 424, 436, 105 S.Ct. 2757, 86 L.Ed.2d 340 (1985). Moreover, “piecemeal appeals would undermine the independence of the district judge.” Firestone, 449 U.S. at 374, 101 S.Ct. 669.

In limited circumstances, however, appeals may be allowed before a final judgment. For example, a district court may certify an order for an immediate appeal. See 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b). Alternately, some statutes and rules allow an early appeal of decisions on certain specific issues.2 Relief from a court order may also be obtained in extraordinary circum[724]*724stances through a writ of mandamus. See Cheney v. U.S. Dist. Court, 542 U.S. 367, 380-81, 124 S.Ct. 2576, 159 L.Ed.2d 459 (2004). Or, as the Power District argues is true here, a piece of the case may become effectively “final” under the collateral-order doctrine, even though the case as a whole has not ended. See Cohen v. Beneficial Indus. Loan Corp., 337 U.S. 541, 546, 69 S.Ct. 1221, 93 L.Ed. 1528 (1949).

The collateral-order doctrine has three requirements. First, an interlocutory order can be appealed only if it is “conclusive.” See Mohawk Indus., 558 U.S. at 106, 130 S.Ct. 599 (quoting Swint, 514 U.S. at 42, 115 S.Ct. 1203). Second, the order must address a question that is “separate from the merits” of the underlying case. Id. Third, the separate question must raise “some particular value of a high order” and evade effective review if not considered immediately. Will v. Hallock, 546 U.S. 345, 351-53, 126 S.Ct. 952, 163 L.Ed.2d 836 (2006); see also Dig. Equip. Corp. v. Desktop Direct, Inc., 511 U.S. 863, 878-79, 114 S.Ct. 1992, 128 L.Ed.2d 842 (1994). All three requirements must be satisfied for the ruling to be immediately appealable. McElmurry v. U.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n, 495 F.3d 1136, 1140 (9th Cir. 2007).

The Supreme Court has repeatedly emphasized that these requirements are stringent and that the collateral-order doctrine must remain a narrow exception. See, e.g., Mohawk Indus., 558 U.S. at 106, 130 S.Ct. 599; Will, 546 U.S. at 349-50, 126 S.Ct. 952; Dig. Equip., 511 U.S. at 868, 114 S.Ct. 1992.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
859 F.3d 720, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 10358, 2017 WL 2508992, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/solarcity-corp-v-salt-river-project-agricultural-improvement-power-ca9-2017.