To citizens who perceive the government's regulatory agencies as invariably bent on aggrandizing their power, it may come as a surprise to learn that these agencies have sometimes opposed efforts to make them assume new authority. The Federal Power Commission is one of these; for more than half a century, it has resisted attempts to expand its jurisdiction. On November 9, 1973, however, in a decision with major significance for the future of this country's water resources, the FPC lost—for the time being at least—its battle to avoid taking jurisdiction over thermal-electric power plants ("steam plants") that utilize surplus water from federal projects for their operations.

The ruling came on a suit filed by two Indian tribes, several individual residents of the Navajo reservation, the Sierra Club, and the Committee to Save Black Mesa. In a lengthy opinion reviewing the piecemeal growth of federal control over electric power, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals held that the FPC erred in dismissing the petitioners' complaint, and remanded the case to the agency for further proceedings.¹ Both the FPC and the plaintiffs have filed petitions for rehearing en banc. The agency continues to deny that it has any jurisdiction over steam plants, while the plaintiffs assert that the decision should apply to all steam plants, not merely those using surplus water. In addition, the plaintiffs seek clarification of the immediate effects of the decision on the six power plants at issue in the litigation.