On June 28, 2023, the Indiana Supreme Court clarified the meaning of the word “invest” in the context of a contract between a public school corporation and a private company regarding the development and operation of a wind turbine project. The contract obligated the school to make payments over a…
On February 21, 2023, the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed an Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (“Commission”) order granting Duke Energy Indiana (“Duke”) recovery of costs pursuant to federal Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) rules for treating coal ash and remediating ash ponds because the Commission had not yet approved the project,…
On February 14, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld an order from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“Commission”) granting Broadview Solar, LLC’s (“Broadview”) application for its Montana facility to be a qualifying facility under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (“PURPA”),…
Recently, the Indiana Court of Appeals decided whether a couple was truly aggrieved, which is a required condition to petition for judicial review of a zoning decision, when they lost their view of Lake Michigan. The Shinalls own a hilltop property with a view of Lake Michigan visible over the…
On March 24, 2023, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals held that § 254 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (the “Act”) did not violate the nondelegation doctrine or the private nondelegation doctrine, denying the Petitioners challenge to Congress’s delegation of administering the Universal Service Fund (“USF”) to the Federal…
On February 1, 2023, the Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed the grant of summary judgment for Community Hospital of Anderson and Madison County (the “Hospital”), holding that Rubendall’s claims for negligence and invasion of privacy based on public disclosure of private facts failed as a matter of law pursuant to…
On October 21, 2022, the Indiana Court of Appeals held that objections to condemnation proceedings must state specific facts that support the assertions raised by the objections, noting that the special statutory character of eminent domain proceedings and inaction by the Indiana General Assembly necessitate greater factual specificity than what…
On January 4, 2023, the Indiana Supreme Court affirmed the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission’s (“IURC”) approval of Southern Indiana Gas & Electric Company’s (“Vectren”) new instantaneous netting method (“Rider EDG”) of determining the amount of credit Vectren customers receive for their excess distributed generation of electricity, overruling the Indiana Court…
On December 28, 2021, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (“Commission”) approved a Transmission, Distribution and Storage System Improvement Charge (“TDSIC”) plan submitted by Northern Indiana Public Service Company (“NIPSCO”). Part of NIPSCO’s TDSIC plan included certain system deliverability projects, specifically NIPCO’s need to upgrade its Marktown substation and improve the…
On March 10, 2022, the Indiana Supreme Court concluded that a utility cannot be reimbursed for a deferred asset, even if it is properly accounted for, without violating Ind. Code § 8-1-2-68 bar against retroactive ratemaking. The case involved the utility regulation commission’s approval of Duke Energy Indiana’s (“Duke”) 2019…