United States v. Alaska Public Utilities Commission

23 F.3d 257 62 USLW 2700 , 152 P.U.R.4th 376 UNITED STATES of America; Michael P.W. Stone, The Secretary of the Army, On Behalf of the Department of Defense and Other Federal Executive Agencies, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. ALASKA PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION; State of Alaska, Defendants-Appellants. No. 92-36614. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Jan. 6, 1994. Decided May 2, 1994. Elizabeth J. Hickerson, Asst. Atty. Gen., Anchorage, Alaska, for defendant-appellant. E. Roy Hawkens, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, DC, for plaintiff-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Alaska. Before: CANBY, and T.G. NELSON, Circuit Judges, and SHUBB, * District Judge. Opinion by Judge T.G. NELSON T.G. NELSON, Circuit Judge: I. OVERVIEW 1 The Alaska Public Utilities Commission (APUC) and the State of Alaska appeal from the district court's summary judgment in favor of the United States Department of Defense (DOD) in the DOD's action challenging the APUC's assessment of costs for two administrative utility rate proceedings in which the DOD had intervened. The district court held that the application of an Alaska statute requiring…