Court Opinion

ID: 9461889
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 22:26:42.049319+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:37:18.249533
License: Public Domain

TAMM, Circuit Judge
(concurring in the result).
I concur in parts I — III of the majority opinion and in the result. The significant issue in this ease is whether the Federal Power Commission was arbitrary and capricious in failing to explain why the 1970 letter agreement between Gulf States and Slemco eliminated the 8,000 kilowatt ceiling on the original contract. See Bowman Transportation, Inc. v. Arkansas-Best Freight System, Inc., 419 U.S. 281, 285-86, 95 S.Ct. 438, 42 L.Ed.2d 447 (1974). The effect of the Commission’s action was to extend the fixed-rate characterization of the original contract to the delivery of approximately 100,000 kilowatts of electricity. See part III of the majority opinion. As the majority correctly observes, the Commission’s explanation was “cursory.” In fact, the order itself does not provide us with any guideposts from which we might discern the agency’s reasoning.
Nevertheless, I am convinced from a reading of the letter agreement that were we to remand this case to the FPC for a further exposition and enlargement of its reasoning, the ultimate result would be identical with that reached by the present opinion. Thus, the need for finality and for the elimination of marginal questions from crowded agency dockets outweighs any benefits to be gained by a remand, especially since the Commission’s conclusion appears to be facially correct. Although the court does not customarily assume a favorable supplementary record, the facts before us are such that we should do so.
Accordingly, I concur in the result reached by the majority opinion.