Southwestern Electric Cooperative, Inc. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

347 F.3d 975, 358 U.S. App. D.C. 250, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 22839
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedNovember 7, 2003
DocketNo. 02-1168
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 347 F.3d 975 (Southwestern Electric Cooperative, Inc. 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.

Bluebook
Southwestern Electric Cooperative, Inc. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 347 F.3d 975, 358 U.S. App. D.C. 250, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 22839 (D.C. Cir. 2003).

Opinion

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge ROGERS.

ROGERS, Circuit Judge:

Southwestern Electric Cooperative, Inc. (“Southwestern”) challenges four orders of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission relating to its withdrawal from the Soyland Power Cooperative, Inc. (“Soy-land”). The parties entered into a series of agreements for accomplishing the withdrawal. Due to ambiguities in the agreements, the Commission endeavored to interpret the agreements in a manner that best reflected the parties’ intent, consistent with the public interest. On appeal, Southwestern contends that the Commission erred by failing to dismiss Soyland’s counterclaims as barred under the Closing Agreement and Mutual Release (“Release”) and, alternatively, as unduly discriminatory. Southwestern additionally contends that the Commission was arbitrary and capricious in construing and applying the withdrawal formula.

We hold that the Commission’s interpretation of the Release, namely that Southwestern would be released from further liability for its withdrawal obligations to Soyland only once it paid the amount that was ultimately due under the parties’ agreements, was reasonable. By contrast, Southwestern’s interpretation relies on an exception in the Release while both ignor[252]*252ing anterior language in the Release thát limits its effect to prior acts or omissions, and also failing to account adequately for the ambiguity of what constitutes a default under the Release. The Commission also reasonably concluded that there was insufficient evidence of undue discrimination, particularly in light of the fluidity of the situation of other contemporaneously withdrawing members. Accordingly, because Southwestern’s other challenges did not show the Commission’s construction and application of the parties’ agreements to be arbitrary and capricious, but a reason- ' able effort to reflect the parties’ intent, we deny the petition for review.

I.

Southwestern Electric Cooperative is an electricity distributor serving customers in rural Illinois. Soyland Power Cooperative provides its member-owners with electricity generation and transmission services. All Soyland members are electricity distribution cooperatives in rural Illinois. In 1976, Southwestern entered into a long-term all-requirements wholesale power contract with Soyland that was due to expire in 2015. Southwestern thereby became a member of Soyland, and was represented on Soyland’s Board of Directors. Until 1996, Soyland had operated subject to rules of the Rural Electrification Administration, now the Rural Utilities Service (“RUS”), pursuant to the terms of a large loan. RUS required the cooperative to secure the loan by entering into long-term, full-requirements wholesale power contracts with all its members. After paying off its $1.1 billion debt to RUS in 1996, however, Soyland became subject to regulation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Pursuant to § 205 of the Federal Power Act (“FPA”), 16 U.S.C. § 824d, and the Commission’s regulations, 18 C.F.R. pt. 35, Soyland filed its wholesale power contracts, formula rate for recovery of its costs under those contracts, and its 1997 budget. The Commission accepted those contracts and the formula rate. Soyland Power Coop., Inc., Letter Order, Docket No. ER96-2967 ff. (May 21, 1997).

Relieved of its obligation to maintain the long-term contracts with its members, Soyland formed a special Buyout Evaluation Committee to develop a method for members to withdraw from the cooperative. The committee’s formation was spurred by Southwestern’s expressed desire, previously frustrated, see United States v. Southwestern Elec. Coop., Inc. v. Soyland Power Coop., No. 86-3419 (S.D.Ill.Dec. 28, 1987) (Memorandum and Order), to cancel prematurely its contract with Soyland. The President of Southwestern’s Board of Directors, who held one of his cooperative’s two seats on the Soy-land Board, served on the committee. The committee, aided by outside consultants, devised a Withdrawal Policy. The Policy was adopted unanimously by Soyland’s Board of Directors, including both Southwestern representatives.

The Withdrawal Policy included a formula for satisfying withdrawing members’ obligations to the remaining Soyland members. The Board sought to ensure that the nonwithdrawing members would not bear added costs as a result of the early withdrawal of members like Southwestern. Therefore, withdrawing members were required to make a withdrawal payment sufficient to cover their share, among other things, of Soyland’s long-term agreements with third parties. The Withdrawal Policy required withdrawing members to make a lump-sum payment, as calculated by Soy-land using a Withdrawal Formula, contained in Attachment A of the Withdrawal Policy. The Attachment, entitled “Methodology for Computing Lump Sum Payment of Member Withdrawal,” included an “Example of Application,” which consisted [253]*253of 23 “items.” Each “item” described how a particular component of the formula might be estimated and allocated among members, and each provided a “reference” to seme as a basis for the item’s computation.

Pursuant to the Withdrawal Policy, Southwestern entered into a Withdrawal Agreement with Soyland on November 4, 1996. The Commission approved the Withdrawal Policy and the Withdrawal Agreement by order of May 21,1997. The parties also signed a Release on May 30, 1997, which freed each party from “any and all claims,” “known or unknown,” arising from “any act or omission ... prior to the date of this [Release].... ” The Release provided an exception for “any such claim ... arising out of a failure by Withdrawing Member to perform its obligations under the Withdrawal Agreement....” On May 31, 1997, Southwestern made its exit payment of $40,594,311, as calculated by Soyland. It withdrew from Soyland the following day. As provided for by the parties’ agreements, the withdrawal payments were twice recalculated by Soyland, reducing Southwestern’s payment to $40,383,030.

On December 8, 1998, Southwestern filed a complaint with the Commission for a refund of approximately $12 million based on Soyland’s alleged miscalculation of the withdrawal payment. See 63 Fed. Reg. 71,456 (Dec. 28,1998). Soyland counterclaimed, seeking an upward adjustment of approximately $3 million of Southwestern’s withdrawal payment. The Commission, in the first order on review, 86 FERC ¶ 61,217 (1999) (“Hearing Order”), dismissed the complaint in part, denied Southwestern’s motion to reject the counterclaims, and established a refund effective date. The Commission set for hearing the computation of the withdrawal payment under the Withdrawal Policy, which it treated as akin to a formula rate.

Following the hearing, the Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) ruled that Soy-land had miscalculated various aspects of the withdrawal payment. See 90 FERC ¶ 63,001 (2000) (“Initial Decision”). He rejected Soyland’s counterclaims as “unduly discriminatory,” because they sought additional amounts from Southwestern that Soyland had not sought from two other contemporaneously withdrawing members, which had not filed complaints with the Commission. The ALJ also rejected Southwestern’s claim that the mandatory Opt-Out Fee paid by Soyland to Illinois Power, its electricity supplier, as a result of Southwestern’s withdrawal had been passed on incorrectly to Southwestern. On the whole, however, the ALJ granted Southwestern much of the relief it had sought. Both parties requested rehearing.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

SW Elec Coop Inc v. FERC
347 F.3d 975 (D.C. Circuit, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
347 F.3d 975, 358 U.S. App. D.C. 250, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 22839, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/southwestern-electric-cooperative-inc-v-federal-energy-regulatory-cadc-2003.