Sierra Club v. U.S. Department of Energy

On August 6, 2018, Sierra Club and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit to compel the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to respond to requests submitted earlier in 2018 for documents related to DOE’s alleged efforts to “undermin[e] power markets through continued efforts to bail out or otherwise preference uneconomic coal and nuclear power.” Sierra Club requested records related to (1) a March 2018 National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) report that plaintiffs characterized as asserting that coal-fired generation “played a critical role during a winter storm” and (2) any requests that DOE exercise its emergency authority under Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act. EDF asked for records related to possible use of emergency authority under Section 202(c), including correspondence between certain DOE personnel and representatives of FirstEnergy Solutions Corporation (FirstEnergy), the owner of several coal and nuclear plants, and (2) correspondence between contributors to the NETL report, certain DOE personnel, and First Energy representatives. The plaintiffs alleged that in March 2018, FirstEnergy submitted a request that DOE exercise its emergency authority to provide assistance to certain coal and nuclear power plants.