ENGIE Gas & LNG LLC v. Department of Public Utilities (and another case) (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-128-16)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us SJC-12051 SJC-12052 ENGIE GAS & LNG LLC[1] vs. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITIES (and another case[2]). Suffolk. May 5, 2016. – August 17, 2016. Present: Gants, C.J., Spina, Cordy, Botsford, Duffly, Lenk, & Hines, JJ.[3] Department of Public Utilities. Practice, Civil, Review of order of Department of Public Utilities. Electric Company. Public Utilities, Electric company, Judicial review. Gas. Administrative Law, Judicial review, Rulemaking, Agency’s authority, Rate regulation. Statute, Construction. Civil actions commenced in the Supreme Judicial Court for the county of Suffolk on October 26 and November 2, 2015. The cases were reported by Cordy, J. Thaddeus A. Heuer (Adam P. Kahn & Jesse Harlan Alderman with him) for ENGIE Gas & LNG LLC. David K. Ismay for Conservation Law Foundation. Seth Schofield, Assistant Attorney General, for the Attorney General. Thomas H. Hayman, Special Assistant Attorney General (Francis R. Powell, Special Assistant Attorney General, with him) for the Department of Public Utilities. Cheryl M. Kimball & Matthew A. Sanders, for NSTAR Electric Company & others, amici curae, submitted a brief. CORDY, J. These consolidated appeals are before us on a single justice’s reservation and report of challenges made to an order of the Department of Public Utilities (department). Those challenges raise the question of the department’s authority to review and approve ratepayer-backed, long-term contracts entered into by electric distribution companies for additional natural gas pipeline capacity in the Commonwealth pursuant to G. L. c. 164, § 94A, which requires gas and electric companies to receive departmental approval for any contract for the purchase of gas or electricity lasting longer than one year. The plaintiffs, ENGIE Gas & LNG LLC and Conservation Law Foundation, contend that the order amounted to improper rulemaking in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, G. L. c. 30A. They also argue that the department’s determination that it has authority pursuant to G. L. c. 164, § 94A, to approve such contracts constitutes an error of law because it contravenes G. L. c. 164, § 94A, as amended through St. 1997, c. 164 (restructuring act).[4] We disagree that the order of the department is an improperly promulgated rule or regulation. We nevertheless reach the statutory question presented by the plaintiffs, and conclude that the order is invalid in light of the statutory language and purpose of G. L. c. 164, § 94A, as amended by the restructuring […]
Another Major Project Proposed for TD Garden Area
Just three months after the city approved a 38-story mixed-use development that will be connected to TD Garden, a second major project has been proposed in that area of Boston’s West End neighborhood, also with plans to connect to the arena. Developers Boston Properties Inc. and Delaware North Companies Inc., through the Boston Garden Development Corporation, filed a letter of intent this week with the Boston Redevelopment Authority seeking to construct a mix of retail and office space, hotel rooms and up to 500 residential units on about 2.8 acres of land at 80 Causeway Street. The proposal calls for a new entrance to the arena and MBTA station, up to 300,000 sq. ft. of multi-story retail space, 500 residential units (600,000 sq. ft.), 200 hotel rooms (200,000 sq. ft.) and 600,000 sq. ft. of commercial office space, as well as 800 parking spaces in a below-grade garage, according to a fact sheet submitted with the proposal. The developer is looking to break ground on the project as early as 2014, though the plans first will have to go through large project review with the BRA and other city agencies. The proposal is the second major project in the TD Garden area to come before the BRA within the past year—in February, the board approved plans for Nashua Street Residences, a 38-story apartment and retail tower. That development, proposed by AvalonBay Communities Inc., features 503 residential units and a two story “retail arcade” that will connect to TD Garden and North Station. Construction on this project is expected to begin later this year. The newest proposal seeks to redevelop the site of the former Boston Garden, which has been used for parking since the TD Garden opened in the 1990s, according to a Boston.com report. The building’s height is not mentioned in the documents filed with the BRA on Thursday, but Boston.com speculated that the new project could reach at least 400 feet, which would put it close to the Nashua Residences project at close to 40 stories. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch