Commerce Clause Challenge to RPS In-State Requirement
State, ex rel. Missouri Energy Development Ass’n v. Public Service Com’n, 386 S.W.3d 165 (2012)
Case Documents

Case Summary
In 2008, Missouri voters approved Proposition C, also known as the Clean Energy Initiative. The proposition created a renewable energy standard and required the State’s Public Service Commission (PSC) to promulgate rules to enforce the standard.

The PSC’s rules specified that only energy generated in Missouri or delivered to a Missouri retail customer could count towards compliance with the standard. Trade groups and utilities challenged this rule as invalid under the dormant Commerce Clause.

The State Court of Appeals did not decide whether the in-state requirement is Constitutional. Instead, it determined that the challenge was moot because that rule was withdrawn, never finalized, and was never effective. The final rules that are in effect place no geographic restrictions on where eligible energy can be generated but do provide bonus Renewable Energy Credits for energy generated in Missouri.

Judicial Decision
State, ex rel. Missouri Energy Development Ass’n v. Public Service Com’n, 386 S.W.3d 165 (2012)