Energy Regulator Wins Court Fights on Project Costs, Competition

US energy regulators acted reasonably in approving rules allowing electric transmission developers to avoid facing competition in some circumstances and to allocate project costs in a way that benefits incumbent developers, the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decided Friday in a pair of rulings.

The court rulings—both of which rejected arguments presented in part by LS Power, a New York-based energy company—arrived as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission weighs an overhaul of regional transmission planning.

This week, the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission took the rare step of publicly criticizing the commission’s proposal to reinstate ...