SmartBrief
Confirm favorite deletion?
Administrative Law Keyed to Cass
Southern California Edison Co. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Citation:
717 F.3d 177 (2013)Facts
Southern California Edison Company operated as an investor-owned public utility and sought to construct three major transmission projects: the Rancho Vista Project, Devers-Palo Verde II, and Tehachapi Projects, with estimated capital expenditures of approximately $2.5 billion. In November 2007, FERC approved various rate incentives including rate adders and 100% recovery for Construction Work In Progress. The following month, SoCal Edison filed tariff revisions proposing a base ROE of 11.5% calculated using the midpoint of a national proxy group screened according to the DCF methodology. FERC accepted the filing subject to conditions and ordered a paper hearing. During the paper hearing, various parties including the California Public Utilities Commission and California Department of Water Resources argued that FERC should use the median rather than the midpoint and should update the ROE based on changes in ten-year U.S. Treasury bond rates. SoCal Edison opposed both suggestions, arguing that the midpoint was consistent with Commission precedent for electric utilities and that updating based on Treasury bond yields during the 2008 financial crisis would be inappropriate given the unusual market conditions. FERC ultimately set the base ROE at 10.55% using the median and updated it to 9.54% for the locked-in period (March 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008) based on a 1.01% reduction in Treasury bond yields, relying on extra-record data without affording SoCal Edison an opportunity to respond until rehearing.
Only StudyBuddy Pro offers the complete Case Brief Anatomy*
Access the most important case brief elements for optimal case understanding.
*Case Brief Anatomy includes: Brief Prologue, Complete Case Brief, Brief Epilogue
- The Brief Prologue provides necessary case brief introductory information and includes:
Topic:
Identifies the topic of law and where this case fits within your course outline.Parties:
Identifies the cast of characters involved in the case.Procedural Posture & History:
Shares the case history with how lower courts have ruled on the matter.Case Key Terms, Acts, Doctrines, etc.:
A case specific Legal Term Dictionary.Case Doctrines, Acts, Statutes, Amendments and Treatises:
Identifies and Defines Legal Authority used in this case.
- The Case Brief is the complete case summarized and authored in the traditional Law School I.R.A.C. format. The Pro case brief includes:
Brief Facts:
A Synopsis of the Facts of the case.Rule of Law:
Identifies the Legal Principle the Court used in deciding the case.Facts:
What are the factual circumstances that gave rise to the civil or criminal case? What is the relationship of the Parties that are involved in the case.Issue(s):
Lists the Questions of Law that are raised by the Facts of the case.Holding:
Shares the Court's answer to the legal questions raised in the issue.Concurring / Dissenting Opinions:
Includes valuable concurring or dissenting opinions and their key points.Reasoning and Analysis:
Identifies the chain of argument(s) which led the judges to rule as they did.
- The Brief Prologue closes the case brief with important forward-looking discussion and includes:
Policy:
Identifies the Policy if any that has been established by the case.Court Direction:
Shares where the Court went from here for this case.