In the last year, two decisions from judges sitting on the bench of the United States Court for the District of New Mexico have opined that PURPA claims made by plaintiffs were “as applied” rather than “implementation” claims and thus could not be heard in federal court. The first decision, in Great Divide I, was a close call and provided an in-depth discussion of the “as applied” versus “implementation” precedent. There, had the case been pled more broadly, as an attack on the legally enforceable obligation (“LEO”) standard established by the New Mexico commission, the court said it would have heard the case on its merits. Indeed, the issue of whether a LEO standard meets PURPA’s requirements had been heard recently by the Montana federal court system. The Great Divide I court invited a better-styled complaint, indicating the complaint could be transformed into an implementation claim.
The plaintiffs filed such an amended complaint, and the court did review the merits of the case, issuing an order on the merits in Great Divide II (2019 WL 5847060) last November. The court found that the New Mexico LEO standard did not violate PURPA, especially given FERC’s silence on appropriate prerequisites which gave the New Mexico Commissioners “the wiggle room” to implement a prerequisite. This decision has been appealed and may be mooted by FERC’s PURPA Final Rule. Now, the newest decision from New Mexico District Court – Vote Solar, – indicates that at least one judge in New Mexico would not have entertained any attempt by the Great Divide I plaintiffs to replead their case.
Continue Reading A New Mexico Federal District Court Tries to Slam Shut the PURPA “Implementation” Claims Window