New York v. FERC, 535 U.S. 1, 24 (2002)

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24

NEW YORK v. FERC

Opinion of the Court

none of the parties before us questions), as well as to regulate the unbundled transmissions of electricity retailers.

Sound Energy Policy

New York argues that FERC jurisdiction over unbundled retail transmission will impede sound energy policy. Specifically, New York cites the States' interest in overseeing the maintenance of transmission lines and the siting of new lines. It is difficult for us to evaluate the force of these arguments because New York has not separately analyzed the impact of the loss of control over unbundled retail transmissions, as opposed to the loss of control over retail transmissions generally, and FERC has only regulated unbundled transactions. Moreover, FERC has recognized that the States retain significant control over local matters even when retail transmissions are unbundled. See, e. g., Order No. 888, at 31,782, n. 543 ("Among other things, Congress left to the States authority to regulate generation and transmission siting"); id., at 31,782, n. 544 ("This Final Rule will not affect or encroach upon state authority in such traditional areas as the authority over local service issues, including reliability of local service; administration of integrated resource planning and utility buy-side and demand-side decisions, including DSM [demand-side management]; authority over utility generation and resource portfolios; and authority to impose nonbypassable distribution or retail stranded cost charges"). We do note that the Edison Electric Institute, which is a party to these cases, and which represents that its members own approximately 70% of the transmission facilities in the country, does not endorse New York's objections to Order No. 888. And, regardless of their persuasiveness, the sort of policy arguments forwarded by New York are properly addressed to the Commission or to the Congress, not to this Court. E. g., Chemehuevi Tribe v. FPC, 420 U. S. 395, 423 (1975).

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