Circuit

The federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Aug. 20 that government motor vehicle fleets need to be powered by clean energy sources, such as natural gas and alternative fuels. The rules apply to fleets of 15 vehicles or more, the appellate court said.

FERC Chairman Joseph Kelliher said Tuesday the federal regulatory panel agrees with the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco regarding its action last Friday to set a settlement conference on the California energy refund proceeding appeals cases. Consolidated appeals petitions will be included in the Sept. 6 conference, continuing the next day if necessary, the court said.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has turned down petitioners who asked for a review of a Transportation Department order licensing Shell Gas and Power’s Gulf Landing LLC LNG import terminal offshore Louisiana.

Indicating that it may reopen the Weaver’s Cove LNG proceeding because of proposed changes to the project, FERC filed a motion in Boston’s First Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday asking for temporary suspension of the deadline to file the official record of the proceeding while it considers requests from the attorneys general of Massachusetts and Rhode Island and the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board to reopen the case.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Monday overturned a lower court’s decision to sentence a former Dynegy Corp. accountant to just over 24 years in prison.

A U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit unanimously determined that Consolidated Edison, Inc. (ConEd) could not be sued by Northeast Utilities’ shareholders for the $1.2 billion difference between the consideration that would have been paid upon consummation of the company’s scuttled merger with Northeast Utilities and the market value of Northeast Utilities’ common stock at the time of the merger agreement.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals last Tuesday issued an emergency injunction to halt the development of coal-bed methane (CBM) in the Montana section of the Powder River Basin while an appeal of the case is pending.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday issued an emergency injunction that halts the development of coal-bed methane (CBM) in the Montana section of the Powder River Basin while an appeal of the case is being decided.

Illinois’ Citizens Utility Board (CUB) filed a class action lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court on Thursday alleging that Nicor Services, an affiliate of Chicago utility Nicor Gas, knowingly markets a gas pipeline repair plan, known as Comfort Guard, to customers who don’t need it and adds it to customers’ bills without their consent.