An appeals court disagreed last week on whether recent Supreme Court precedent limiting judicial deference to agencies applied to a challenge to federal requirements for power plant upgrades to move more green energy into the New England grid.
In a 2-1 decision Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit determined that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission had statutory authority to require Seabrook Station in New Hampshire to upgrade its circuit breaker so that hydropower generated by Quebec facilities could safely connect to the regional grid.
The sticking point before the court was the limit of FERC’s oversight. The commission is responsible for regulating interstate power transmission, not electricity generation. But FERC said it had authority to require a new circuit breaker because Seabrook’s existing infrastructure was insufficient to allow for an influx of renewable power from a new transmission line carrying Canadian hydropower across the border.
Two judges of the D.C. Circuit agreed.
