Last Friday, FERC sought a further stay of the decision by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals striking down FERC Order 745. Whereas the United States had previously only indicated that it was considering filing a cert. petition, the latest filing clarifies that the United States has definitively decided to seek Supreme Court review. On Monday, Chief Justice Roberts granted the extension. The United States now has until January 15, 2015 to file a cert. petition.
As I noted at the time of the original Circuit Court decision, I think that the dissent had a lot of force. I will be intrigued to see how the Supreme Court review plays out, because this case implicates both Chevron deference and important questions of federalism, and it is by no means obvious how the Court will rule.
Definitely stay tuned on this one.