San Diego Gas & Electric Co. v. Canadian Hunter Marketing Ltd.

Plaintiff San Diego Gas and Electric Company (“San Diego Gas”), a California public utility, appeals the district court’s grant of summary adjudication to defendants Canadian Hunter Marketing Ltd. (“Canadian Hunter”) and Noranda, Inc., Canadian Hunter’s parent company. The district court found that, under Section 12(1) of the Alberta Sale of Goods Act (“SGA”), R.S.A, Ch. S-2 (1980) (Can.), changes in California regulatory procedures had invalidated a contract between the parties for the sale of natural gas. San Diego Gas argues on appeal that summary judgment for Canadian Hunter was inappropriate both because genuine issues of material fact remain to be resolved and because the district court erred in its legal analysis of the substantive issues. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In the late 1970s, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission began to deregulate the United States natural gas industry, permitting utility companies like San Diego Gas to look beyond their traditional sources of natural gas to alternative, more economical sources. At the same time, depressed natural gas prices in Canada encouraged…