Ellis v. Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement & Power District

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal of federal claims challenging a power and water utility’s pricing scheme that allowed the utility to charge customers who generate electricity through their own solar energy systems up to 65% more for the utility’s electricity. Applications for solar energy systems decreased by 50–96% after adoption of the pricing scheme. Although the Ninth Circuit agreed with the district court that the plaintiffs could not proceed with their state law claims because they failed to comply with notice of claim requirements, the Ninth Circuit held that the plaintiffs’ equal protection claims were timely and that they adequately stated antitrust injury. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s rejection of defenses raised by the utility but agreed that the Local Government Antitrust Act precluded recovery of antitrust damages, but not declaratory and injunctive relief.