Court Opinion

ID: 9464578
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 23:37:43.754841+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:38:43.193711
License: Public Domain

RONEY, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I concur in the affirmance of the Commission’s order, and all of the opinion except the last paragraph. I dissent from the remand of this case to the Commission and dissociate myself from the advice contained in the last paragraph of the opinion.
First, I doubt that we have authority to “Affirm and Remand.” If the Commission’s order withstands review, what happens after that is beyond judicial control. Upon the filing of petition for review, the Court shall “have jurisdiction, which upon the filing of the record with it shall be exclusive, to affirm* modify or set aside such order in whole or in part.” The Court can order additional evidence to be taken before the Commission, if needed. “The judgment and decree of the court, affirming, modifying, or setting aside” the order shall be final, subject to Supreme Court review. 15 U.S.C.A. § 717r.
Second, the advice as to what the Commission might do with a new settlement agreement seems out of keeping with our decision that the Commission was correct in finding that Dorchester failed to meet Permian standards to justify a refund under any settlement proposal. Having failed to show that it is entitled to a refund, Dorchester could not submit any proposal of new terms in a settlement agreement that would meet the Commission’s objections. Suggesting that the Commission stay further its refund order for such exercise would seem to be a futility. If the Court thinks the case must be reopened to redetermine whether Dorchester can meet the Permian standards of refund forgiveness, then it should so order, but to leave that matter closed furnishes no reason for the Commission to consider a proposed settlement of the refund obligation.
For my part, I would adhere to the decision that the Commission has so far proceeded correctly, affirm its order, and stop there. I would leave the Commission to decide whether the case can, or should, in any way be reopened, without voicing any judicial suggestion about how it proceeds from here.