S-21-0620, In the Matter of Black Hills Natural Gas LLC d/b/a Black Hills Energy, Rapid City, South Dakota, Seeking to Extend its Service Area for Purposes of Serving an Omaha Public Power District Site in Sarpy County
Appeal from the Nebraska Public Service Commission
Attorneys: Mark A. Fahleson and Andrew S. Pollock (Rembolt Ludtke, LLP) for Appellant the Metropolitan Utilities District and L. Jay Bartel (Attorney General’s Office) for Appellee Nebraska Public Service Commission and Trenten P. Bausch and Megan S. Wright (Cline Williams Johnson Wright & Oldfather, LLP) for Appellee Black Hills Nebraska Gas LLC.
Civil: Utility service area
Proceedings below: Metropolitan Utilities District [MUD] appeals from an order of the Nebraska Public Service Commission [NPSC] that approved an application filed by Black Hills. MUD filed a petition to bypass the Court of Appeals, which was granted by the Nebraska Supreme Court.
Issues: MUD argues that the NPSC erred when it: 1) disregarded the application of the conclusive presumption in Neb. Rev. Stat. §66-1863(3) and the Entities’ service areas authorized by operation of the same; 2) found that MUD did not meet is burden of proof to overcome a rebuttable presumption that the Black Hills application was in the public interest; 3) disregarded its May 12, 2010 order in docket Application P-0014; 4) found that that it was “unclear to what extent the parties themselves relied on the P-0014 maps in the past eleven (11) years; 5) found that it was “tasked by the Legislature to decide what is in the public interest when Black Hills and MUD are unable to reach an agreement as to their respective service territories;” 6) found that the submission in docket Application P-0014 did not describe what was to happen in the case that the parties failed to reach an agreement on their service areas; and 7) approved Black Hills’s P-12.32 Application.