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Posts Tagged ‘TRO denied’

March Madness – will California’s full court press halt Sable’s momentum?

Posted in California, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 25, 2026| Leave a Comment »

On Monday, Sable got a boost from Judge Wilson, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Judge Wilson denied a request by the California Department of Parks and Recreation (and other State agencies) to enjoin Sable Offshore from restarting or continuing the operation of oil pipeline segments withing Gaviota State Park.

Sable got another boost from Chevron, which agreed to buy 20,000 bopd from Sable for its El Segundo refinery.

Not to be denied, the California Attorney General filed the attached lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The AG argues that US Energy Secretary Chris Wright has no authority under the Defense Production Act (DPA) to excuse Sable from compliance with state and federal laws and court orders. The lawsuit alleges that the DPA Order violates the Administrative Procedure Act and infringes on California’s sovereign power under the Tenth Amendment.

The suit also alleges that the Order violates the constitutional Separation of Powers by purporting to override not only state law and a preliminary injunction issued by the Santa Barbara Superior Court, but also a judicial Consent Decree approved by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California that expressly acknowledged and approved the State’s role in reviewing and approving any planned restart of the onshore pipelines.

The AG asks the Court (p. 33) to issue a judicial declaration that the Wright Order is unconstitutional and/or unlawful because it violates the APA and the U.S. Constitution.

Read the Court filing for full details, and stay tuned. No doubt there will be more swings in momentum going forward.

Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive and Other Relief [1]Download

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Court denies Dominion’s request for a temporary restraining order

Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, Regulation, tagged , , , , on December 31, 2025| Leave a Comment »

District Judge Jamar Walker rejected Dominion Energy’s request for an immediate temporary restraining order (TRO) that would allow work on the suspended offshore wind projects to resume immediately.

The December 28 court ruling is consistent with the Department of the Interior’s position that the TRO request be converted to a request for a preliminary injunction. Interior had argued that a preliminary injunction motion could likely be resolved by mid-to-late-January.

The Government also asserted that more time is needed to submit the classified information that is central to the dispute.

Thoughts on this case: A respected colleague recalled this advice from Don Hodel, a widely admired Secretary of the Interior during the Reagan administration: “For all its faults, a contract is a contract, great men and great nations keep their word.”

Another colleague reminded me of the offshore North Carolina oil and gas leases that were suspended in the 1990s. The companies sued the Federal government for breach of contract, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-1 on June 26, 2000, in Mobil Oil Exploration & Producing Southeast Inc. v. United States, that the government must repay the lessees.

If the suspended Atlantic wind leases are cancelled, the govt would presumably have to compensate lessees for lease purchase and development expenditures. The costs to the Federal govt would be enormous – in the tens of $billions.

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