Washington state is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a constitutional challenge to its carbon market, one of only two such programs in the U.S.
State officials argued in a brief filed Monday that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals got it right when it upheld the landmark cap-and-trade law last year. The brief, which was filed in opposition to an appeal by an energy company that asserts the climate program is unconstitutional, also noted that the Supreme Court determined in 1997 that states are allowed to regulate utilities that sell natural gas to consumers differently than they regulate companies that sell gas wholesale.
Invenergy Thermal — an Illinois-based company that owns the largest gas-fired power plant in Washington — filed suit in 2022, asserting that the program that sets a yearly cap on greenhouse gas emissions discriminates against out-of-state power plants by imposing costs that local utility-owned power plants may avoid.
A district court judge rejected the lawsuit in 2023, finding that Invenergy lacked standing to advance its case under the dormant Commerce Clause, which limits state laws that discriminate against out-of-state interests.
