Citing a seven-year-old state law, a labor-business trio led by Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) last Friday sued the California Energy Commission (CEC) in a state Superior Court in Orange County for allegedly dismissing natural gas as an energy option.

Joined by the Utility Workers of America Locals 132, 483 and 522, as well as Newport Beach, CA-based Clean Energy Fuels Corp., the lawsuit asked the court to vacate the natural gas portion of the CEC’s 2019 Integrated Energy Plan Report (IEPR).

The trio of plaintiffs seeks to force the CEC to rewrite the gas report to comply with Assembly Bill (AB) 1257, the state Natural Gas Act. “The law makes clear that the CEC must develop a standalone report every four years, identifying strategies and options that maximize the...