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Opinion of Thomas, J.
I disagree. The Court defers to the Court of Appeals' characterization of FERC's decision as a "policy choice," rather than to any such characterization made by FERC itself.2 But a post-hoc rationalization offered by the Court of Appeals is an insufficient basis for deference. "[A]n agency's action must be upheld, if at all, on the basis articulated by the agency itself." Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Assn. of United States, Inc. v. State Farm Mut. Automobile Ins. Co., 463 U. S. 29, 50 (1983) (emphasis added).
Therefore, in order to properly assess FERC's decision not to apply the OATT to transmission connected to bundled retail sales, we must carefully evaluate the two justifications that the Court points to and relies on. Neither is sufficient. As I discuss below, FERC failed to explain why regulating such transmission is not "necessary," and FERC's inconclusive jurisdictional analysis does not provide a sound basis for our deference.
A
I cannot support the Court's reliance on FERC's explanation that "[a]lthough the unbundling of retail transmission and generation, as well as wholesale transmission and generation, would be helpful in achieving comparability, we do not believe it is necessary." Order No. 888, at 31,699. Aside from this conclusory statement, FERC provides no explanation as to why such regulation is unnecessary and attaches no findings to support this single statement. As such, we
decision not to apply the OATT to transmission associated with bundled retail sales, and FERC did not rely on the second explanation in Order No. 888-A. See infra, at 41.
2 Specifically, the Court of Appeals stated that, in light of the fact that a regulator could reasonably construe the transmission component of bundled retail sales as either part of a retail sale or a transmission service in interstate commerce, "FERC's decision to characterize bundled transmissions as part of retail sales subject to state jurisdiction therefore represents a statutorily permissible policy choice to which we must also defer under Chevron [U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U. S. 837, 842-843 (1984)]." 225 F. 3d 667, 694-695 (CADC 2000).
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