The U.S. Supreme Court recently entered a short order that may later be seen as one of the final steps toward definitively addressing a bankruptcy issue that has bedeviled both lawyers and courts for decades.
Not Just Any Decision: The Ongoing Power Struggle Between Bankruptcy Courts and State Regulators
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in ERCOT v. Just Energy Texas, L.P. is notable in its own right for addressing critical issues regarding who has authority to regulate a state’s electric utilities. But the case is even more interesting when considered in the broader mosaic of recent decisions by courts dealing with how and when state regulatory power may be circumscribed by federal bankruptcy courts.