Energy and Environmental Legal Institute v. Epel

Colorado’s Renewable Energy Standard Statute (RES) established a renewables quota that required retail utilities to generate, or cause the generation of, a specified amount of renewable-energy resources (e.g., recycled energy, solar energy, and wind energy) within a set time. For example, the renewables quota originally required certain electric utilities to provide 10 percent of their retail electricity sales from renewable sources within 10 years. The RES provided that utilities could meet their renewables quota requirements through the direct generation or purchase of renewable power or through the purchase of renewable-energy credits. The RES also created a renewable-energy-credit trading system that utilities could use to fulfill their requirements. Under the RES, Colorado utilities were free to buy electricity from any in-state or out-of-state generator. However, any utility that sought to apply renewable energy or renewable-energy credits to its renewables-quota requirements had to obtain approval from the Colorado Public Utility Commission (the commission). The Energy and Environmental Legal Institute (EELI) (plaintiff), an organization that promoted coal energy and questioned humans’ connection to global warming, brought an action against commission members, including Joshua Epel (defendants). EELI sought a declaration that the RES’s renewables quota violated the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution because (1) the renewables quota discriminated against out-of-state interests, (2) the renewables quota attempted to control wholly out-of-state commerce by requiring out-of-state electricity to be generated pursuant to Colorado’s requirements, and (3) the RES’s burden on interstate commerce exceeded the statute’s in-state benefits. The parties cross-moved for summary judgment.