Second Circuit follows lead of Seventh: Nuke subsidies upheld
On September 27, 2018, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued its decision in Coalition for Competitive Electricity v. Zibelman, 2nd Cir. No. 17-2654, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 27605 (Sep. 27, 2018). This decision, which follows the Seventh Circuit’s decision in Elec. Power Supply Assn. v. Anthony M. Star, summarized here, is the second decision in the span of two weeks to affirm a state’s subsidization of nuclear generation facilities. As in Star, the principal issue in Zibelman was whether the Federal Power Act, specifically 16 U.S.C. § 824(b)(1), which provides that the Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC) is to regulate the sale of electricity in interstate commerce, and the states are to regulate local distribution and the facilities used to generate power, preempts a state law that seeks to subsidize some of the state’s nuclear generation facilities in the form of zero emission credits (ZEC) credits. Following the Seventh Circuit’s lead, the Second Circuit held that the state program was not preempted by the Federal Power Act; however, the decision differed in two main respects. For more, read the full publication.
