Appeals Court Decides in Favor of Connecticut Clean Energy Policy

(June 28, 2017) In a victory for clean, low-cost, and reliable energy, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decided in favor of Connecticut’s renewable energy policy today.

A three-judge panel upheld a lower court decision in the state of Connecticut’s favor in Allco Finance Ltd. V. Klee.

“The Second Circuit Court’s decision today supports states’ efforts to reduce climate pollution and transition to cleaner energy resources,” said Environmental Defense Fund Senior Attorney Michael Panfil. “This decision will have profound benefits for the health of Connecticut families, and for the state’s economy and environment.”

Environmental Defense Fund and other environmental organizations filed an amicus, or “friend of the court,” brief in support of Connecticut and its clean energy policy.

Today’s decision upholds Connecticut’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), which requires the state to jointly obtain 27 percent of its electricity from renewable sources in the New England region by the year 2020. By affirming that Connecticut is within its legal right to implement this climate pollution-reducing goal, the court makes clear that states have the power to protect the health and well-being of their citizens – who are afflicted by climate pollution and protected by clean energy.

In deciding in favor of Connecticut, the court held that the Connecticut program’s “means and ends are well within the scope of what Congress and FERC have traditionally allowed the States to do in the realm of energy regulation.” (Brief, page 51)

Opponents of Connecticut’s RPS had argued that federal law should be applied in an unprecedented and unwieldy way that would have inhibited the state’s clean energy goals. Given Connecticut’s RPS requirement to obtain renewables from either within the state or from the neighboring region, a decision against Connecticut would have ignored the interconnected nature of our electric grid.