California Department of Water Resources v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

The California Department of Water Resources (“DWR”) is a state agency charged with managing California’s water supply. As a by-product of its operation of dams and reservoirs, it generates electricity that is subject to federal regulation. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) is a federal agency charged with regulating interstate energy markets, and as a by-product of that regulation, finds itself involved in regulating California’s water supply. The intersection of the agencies’ respective authority is the source of this dispute. DWR challenges a FERC order that granted authority to control DWR’s power outages to the California Independent System Operator (“the ISO”), the public corporation that operates California’s energy grid.

Specifically, DWR petitions for review under Section 313(b) of the Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. § 8251 (b), of a FERC order denying reconsideration of an earlier FERC order granting the ISO control over the planned power outages of DWR’s generation units. DWR contended before FERC that the ISO’s enhanced authority would interfere with DWR’s primary responsibility to store and deliver water. In the orders under review, FERC did not…