New York's highest court refused to extend hydraulic fracturing leases entered into between energy companies and landowners. The leases contained a "force majeure" clause, excusing the parties from nonperformance due to events outside their control, as well as "habendum clauses," establishing the pr...

The Third Circuit upheld a lower court decision dismissing, on standing grounds, a doctor's claim challenging the constitutionality of a Pennsylvania law that limits a doctor's ability to obtain information about the mixture of chemical fluids used during hydraulic fracturing when treating patients ...

An Ohio court struck down a city's ban on drilling new oil and gas wells within its jurisdiction. On the one hand, the ban is a clear exercise of the city's police power; by attempting to ban oil and gas drilling, the city is trying to protect the public health and general welfare. But the ban is in...

The D.C. Circuit upheld DOI's five-year plan for oil and gas leases on the outer continental shelf (OCS). A nonprofit group argued that the 2012-2017 leasing schedule violated §18(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which governs how DOI is to balance competing economic, social, and enviro...

The D.C. Circuit upheld FERC's approval of a cost-pooling agreement among Trans Alaska Pipeline System oil carriers that allocates most fixed costs on the basis of each carrier's share of combined interstate and intrastate utilization of the 800-mile pipeline. Two carriers that only ship oil within ...

A Wisconsin court remanded to the state utility commission two components of a 2013 order involving the state's distributed generation tariff for customer-owned generation, i.e., net metering customers. The tariff applies to customers who self-generate energy and compensates them for energy injected...

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that oil and gas leases need not be extended where the lessor has pursued an unsuccessful lawsuit challenging the validity of the lease. An oil company that had been unsuccessfully sued by its lessor argued that it would be appropriate for the courts to award an e...

The Ohio Supreme Court held that a city may not restrict oil and gas drilling within its borders. The city sought to enforce five local ordinances limiting drilling within its borders after an energy company had already obtained the necessary state permits. The ordinances, however, conflict with sta...

A district court, in a 199-page opinion, struck down a local county ordinance banning oil-and-gas drilling, including hydraulic fracturing, within Mora County, New Mexico. Portions of the ordinance essentially provide that corporations have no federal constitutional rights. For example, the ordinanc...

The Court of Federal Claims held that a company that funded construction of an open-loop biomass facility to provide steam for a chicken rendering plant's electricity needs is entitled to reimbursement costs under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARAR), but only for costs associated with ...