Opinion ID: 894929
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: declaratory judgment claims

Text: TMPA sought declarations regarding the Commission's jurisdiction to abrogate, amend, or regulate the PSC and the bundled sales rate under the PSC. TMPA now asks us to decide whether the court of appeals erred in affirming the district court's dismissal of those claims. The court of appeals' opinion states: Having found that chapter 35 of PURA conferred jurisdiction on the Commission to determine whether the terms on which TMPA provided transmission services to Bryan were reasonable, we hold that TMPA's request for declaratory relief is unnecessary and redundant. 150 S.W.3d at 591. The Commission and Bryan contend that the court of appeals never reached or decided the jurisdictional question and that the only issue before this Court is whether the court of appeals erred in affirming the trial court's dismissal of the declaratory judgment claims, not the merits of those claims. TMPA, however, suggests that the court of appeals believed it had already resolved its jurisdictional claims adversely to TMPA and urges us to decide the merits of those claims, which have been fully briefed and argued. See Little v. Tex. Dep't of Crim. Justice, 148 S.W.3d 374, 384 (Tex.2004) (suggesting that we may have discretion to consider issues briefed but not decided by the court of appeals). Having fully addressed the Commission's jurisdiction in response to the first two issues presented by TMPA and the Northern Cities, we agree with the court of appeals that the declaratory judgment claims appear to be redundant. See Tex. Liquor Control Bd. v. Canyon Creek Land Corp., 456 S.W.2d 891, 895 (Tex.1970) (An action for declaratory judgment will not be entertained if there is pending, at the time it is filed, another action or proceeding between the same parties and in which may be adjudicated the issues involved in the declaratory judgment action.); BHP Petroleum Co. v. Millard, 800 S.W.2d 838, 841 (Tex.1990) (The Declaratory Judgments Act is `not available to settle disputes already pending before a court.' (citations omitted)). In a related appeal, however, the Third Court of Appeals ruled that the trial court has subject matter jurisdiction over the declaratory judgment claims, that the claims are not barred by sovereign immunity, and that the claims are not duplicative of the suit for judicial review of Commission orders. See Tex. Mun. Power Agency v. Pub. Util. Comm'n, 100 S.W.3d 510, 519-20 (Tex.App.-Austin 2003, pet. denied). Referring to a suit for judicial review of Commission orders as an Administrative Procedure Act (APA) appeal, that court stated: An APA appeal allows a district court to rule on a particular Commission order, but the [declaratory judgment] action brought in this case asks for a determination of the Commission's general authority to adjudicate the underlying dispute. . . . While an APA appeal may be resolved on the ground that the agency involved has exceeded its statutory authority or violated the constitution, see Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 2001.174(2)(A), (B) (West 2000), the district court's determination in that case only considers the validity of the specific order being appealed. The question posed to the court by [TMPA's declaratory judgment] action is broader than the effectiveness of one particular order and requests relief more expansive than the reversal of a particular Commission determination. The narrow appellate procedure provided by the APA to attack a particular Commission order, on any of the available grounds, does not displace the district court's ability to determine the scope of an agency's authority through a properly brought [declaratory judgment] action, as we encounter in this case. Id. Because we cannot determine from the court of appeals' opinion whether it considered the merits of the declaratory judgment claims, which the court previously characterized as distinct from and not duplicative of the claims for judicial review of Commission orders, we reverse the court of appeals' judgment sustaining dismissal of TMPA's claims for declaratory relief and remand those claims to the court of appeals for further consideration. See Cincinnati Life Ins. Co. v. Cates, 927 S.W.2d 623, 626 (Tex.1996) (remanding a case to the court of appeals when we did not have the benefit of the court of appeals' full decision on the merits). The Commission and Bryan state that TMPA has another forum for obtaining declaratory judgment relief and assert that dismissal of those claims was proper because the same claims can still be addressed in the suit pending in Grimes County. TMPA believes this Court is the proper forum for resolution of the jurisdictional claims because the two cases before this Court were filed before the Grimes County suit and judicial economy dictates that the process not start fresh in that court. In addition, TMPA expresses concern that Bryan and the Commission may seek to use the court of appeals' decision to argue that the Grimes County district court should dismiss the pending declaratory judgment claims. Having remanded the declaratory judgment claims to the court of appeals, we leave these issues for that court to consider.