IEPA

In this declaratory relief action the plaintiff Independent Energy Producers Association Inc. (IEPA), which represents the interests of independent electric generating facilities, asserts that the California State Board of Equalization (the Board) improperly assessed certain of its members’ property for taxation. IEPA asserts that after deregulation of the energy market in California in 1996, when utilities were required to sell off generating facilities, the Board improperly enacted a rule, which was codified by the Legislature in a statute, allowing the Board to assess some of these generating facilities on the basis that they were “public utilities” within the meaning of the California Constitution. In response, IEPA filed this action challenging the Board’s assessment and brought a motion for summary adjudication of issues, contending that (1) the Board had no jurisdiction to assess such electric generating facilities as they are not “regulated public utilities”; and (2) the statutory authority for the Board’s assessment of these generating facilities violated the terms of article XIII A, section 3 of the California Constitution (Proposition 13) as it was passed with…