News & Analysis as of

Utilities Sector CA Supreme Court

Best Best & Krieger LLP

CA Supreme Court Scales Back Judicial Deference for CPUC Decisions

On August 7, 2025, the California Supreme Court (the Court) issued Opinion S283614 in the case Center For Biological Diversity, Inc. v. Public Utilities Commission regarding the degree of deference that courts should afford...more

Downey Brand LLP

California Supreme Court Overrules Chevron-like Deference For Review of Decisions of California Public Utilities Commission

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On August 7, 2025, the California Supreme Court issued its decision in Center For Biological Diversity v. California Public Utilities Commission. The decision reversed the decision of a lower appellate court which had...more

Nossaman LLP

California Supreme Court Takes Up Utility Take-Over Standard of Review Dispute

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We previously reported on the recent California Court of Appeal district split as to what standard of review should apply in utility takeover condemnation cases as it pertains to more necessary public use challenges, and...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

The California Supreme Court (and Court of Appeal) - August 5, 2022

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The California Supreme Court issued the following decisions: County of Butte v. Department of Water Resources, et al., No. S258574: California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR) operates the “Oroville Facilities,” an...more

Best Best & Krieger LLP

California Supreme Court Clarifies Ministerial vs. Discretionary Actions Under CEQA for Well Construction Permits

Decision in Protecting Our Water and Environmental Resources v. County of Stanislaus Case - In a long-awaited decision, the California Supreme Court addressed the circumstances under which a public agency may characterize...more

Fisher Phillips

December 2018: The Top 15 Labor And Employment Law Stories

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It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years—and this past month...more

Perkins Coie

Supreme Court To Decide If CEQA Review Is Required For Well Permits.

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The Supreme Court of California has granted review of two cases to resolve a split among courts of appeal over whether the issuance of well permits pursuant to state standards is subject to CEQA. California Water Impact...more

Best Best & Krieger LLP

Transfer Of Electric Utility Revenues To City’s General Fund Is Not A Tax Under Proposition 26 - Supreme Court Reverses Court Of...

A city’s annual budgetary transfer from its electric utility to its general fund, referred to as a payment in lieu of taxes and known as PILOT, is an electric utility cost and not an exaction subject to Proposition 26, the...more

Best Best & Krieger LLP

Surcharge on Utility Users Imposed Under a Franchise Agreement is Not a Tax - California Supreme Court Holds Surcharge for...

In an opinion anxiously awaited by many cities, the California Supreme Court held that a 1 percent surcharge on electric utility bills paid by Southern California Edison to the City of Santa Barbara, which were used for...more

Nossaman LLP

Recent Decisions Applying the Covalt and Hartwell Test

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Two California Courts of Appeal recently reviewed decisions involving the California Public Utilities Commission in a pair of cases that build on the principles established by the California Supreme Court in Covalt and...more

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