California Independent System Operator Corp. v. Reliant Energy Services, Inc.

ORDER GRANTING PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

This lawsuit concerns the obligation of certain generators to respond to emergency dispatch instructions for electric power issued by plaintiff California Independent System Operator Corporation (“the ISO”). This matter is before the court on the following motions: (1) the ISO’s motion for preliminary injunction requiring Reliant to respond to emergency dispatch instructions issued by the ISO; (2) Reliant’s motion to dismiss the action for lack of jurisdiction, or alternatively, to stay the action under the doctrine of primary jurisdiction; and (3) the California Department of Water Resources’ (“DWR”) motion to dismiss the third-party complaint filed against it by Reliant on Eleventh Amendment immunity grounds. By this order, the court now rules on the pending motions

BACKGROUND

1. California’s Electric Power Market

The ISO is responsible for controlling and maintaining California’s electric power transmission grid. As part of its responsibilities, the ISO acts as a power “broker” between the generators and utilities. These transactions are governed by the ISO Tariff.

California’s electric power market is comprised of two sub-markets: the…