The Trump administration is calling on the Supreme Court to deny Duke Energy’s request for relief in an antitrust case that could have broader implications for how courts evaluate business competition.
The North Carolina-based utility is seeking to overturn a 2024 ruling from a lower bench that allowed Florida-based power supplier NTE to pursue an antitrust suit against Duke. In a Supreme Court brief filed last week, Solicitor General D. John Sauer said Duke’s request “arises out of a campaign by an established monopolist to stop a more efficient rival from disturbing its long-dominant hold over a regional energy market.”
The justices in June invited the administration to weigh in on the matter. At least four justices have to vote to take up a case, and the solicitor general’s view can be an important factor in the justices’ decision to grant or reject a petition.
Sauer said the Supreme Court does not need to review the decision from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which found that actions Duke took involving NTE could qualify as anticompetitive. Nor, he wrote, “is this case a suitable vehicle to announce any broader rule of antitrust law.”
