California CNG, Inc. v. Southern California Gas Co.

California CNG, Inc. and Prime of California, Inc., two California corporations (hereinafter collectively referred to as “Cal CNG”), appeal from the district court’s dismissal of their complaint alleging various violations of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1-7 , by Southern California Gas (“SoCalGas”), a California utility company, and by Henderson Engineering, an Illinois corporation. The district court determined that SoCalGas was immune from suit under the “state action” doctrine. We have jurisdiction over this appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm in part and reverse in part.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Because the district court dismissed Cal CNG’s complaint for failure to state a claim, the allegations of the complaint are taken as true, and construed in the light most favorable to Cal CNG, for purposes of this appeal. National Wildlife Federation v. Espy, 45 F.3d 1337, 1340 (9th Cir.1995). The following recitation of the “facts” therefore draws entirely on the complaint.

Cal CNG is involved in the natural-gas-vehicle (NGV) industry. NGVs are intemal-combustion-powered vehicles that operate on compressed natural gas, producing a much lower level of emissions than…