On February 28, Judge Daniel Crabtree of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas dismissed five consolidated putative class actions against BP and other sellers of natural gas. The case is part of S&C’s work as national coordinating counsel for BP in litigation and investigations arising out of Winter Storm Uri, a severe winter storm in February 2021 that disrupted energy markets across Texas and the South Central region of the United States.
The plaintiffs, who are Kansas residents that purchased gas from five utilities during the storm, alleged that the price at which the defendants sold natural gas to utilities violated the Kansas Consumer Protection Act.
The defendants moved to dismiss on grounds including federal preemption, arguing that the plaintiffs could not challenge wholesale transactions under the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. (There were no sales directly to plaintiffs.)
Judge Crabtree granted the motion to dismiss with prejudice, holding that the plaintiffs’ claims were barred by the doctrine of field preemption. “FERC—and no other entity—has authority to determine whether any wholesale natural gas rate or practice ‘is unjust, unreasonable, unduly discriminatory, or preferential,’” he wrote.
The S&C team advising BP includes Rick Pepperman, Amanda Davidoff, Mike Devlin, Madeline Jenks, Morgan Knudtsen, Maddie Zuschnitt and Will McCarter.