Deepwater Wind Complaint
J. William Harsch, Esq. and Andrew A. Rainer|August 14, 2015
Benjamin Riggs, the Rhode Island Manufacturers Association and others filed this complaint in Federal Court pertaining to the approval of an above-market power contract between Deepwater Wind and National grid. The plaintiffs initially pursued this matter before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”). However FERC chose not to act on it itself but rather to refer the matter to the courts. Consequently they ruled that “Our decision not to initiate an enforcement action means that Mr. Riggs may himself bring an enforcement action against the Rhode Island Commission in the appropriate court”. By law, that is federal court. The current action is limited to asking the federal government to assert its clear authority over the pricing mechanism for the Deepwater project. The complaint, a portion of which appears below, speaks for itself. The full complaint can be accessed by clicking the links on this page. In addition, the plaintiffs filed the attached Memorandum that explains the Motion for Summary Judgment.
Benjamin Riggs, the Rhode Island Manufacturers Association and others filed this complaint in Federal Court pertaining to the approval of an above-market power contract between Deepwater Wind and National grid. The plaintiffs initially pursued this matter before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”). However FERC chose not to act on it itself but rather to refer the matter to the courts. Consequently they ruled that “Our decision not to initiate an enforcement action means that Mr. Riggs may himself bring an enforcement action against the Rhode Island Commission in the appropriate court”. By law, that is federal court. The current action is limited to asking the federal government to assert its clear authority over the pricing mechanism for the Deepwater project. The complaint, a portion of which appears below, speaks for itself. The full complaint can be accessed by clicking the links on this page. In addition, the plaintiffs filed the attached Memorandum that explains the Motion for Summary Judgment.
Complaint
Plaintiffs Benjamin Riggs, Laurence Ehrhardt, and the Rhode Island Manufacturers Association bring this Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief against Defendants Margaret Curran, Paul Roberti, and Herbert Desimone, Jr., in their official capacity as members of the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission (hereinafter “PUC”), seeking a declaration that the PUC’s Order dated August 16, 2010 (“Order”) approving a Power Purchase Agreement (“PPA”) between Narragansett Electric Company, Inc. (hereinafter “National Grid”) and Deepwater Wind Block Island, LLC (“Deepwater Wind”) violates the Federal Power Act (“FPA”), the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (“PURPA”), the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution, the Commerce Clause of the nited States Constitution, and 42 U.S.C. §1983. National Grid and Deepwater Wind are named as 2 additional Defendants herein because the disposition of this action may impair or impede their economic interests.
