Center for Biological Diversity v. Public Utilities Commission of the State of California

In a proceeding in which environmental groups challenge the California Public Utilities Commission’s (PUC’s) adoption of a successor to the Net Energy Metering tariff governing compensation for exports of electricity to the grid from rooftop solar panels and other means by which utility customers generate their own power, the California Supreme Court ruled that the California Court of Appeal had erred by applying an “unduly deferential standard of review.” The environmental groups argue, among other things, that the PUC failed to take into account all the benefits of renewable energy when it established the new tariff. The Supreme Court held that amendments to the Public Utilities Code at the end of the 20th century reduced the degree of deference due to PUC determinations. The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals judgment upholding the tariff and remanded for review of the tariff under the less deferential standard of review.