Union Electric Co. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
890 F.2d 1193 (1989)
After the administrative record closed, FERC (defendant) lowered Union Electric's (plaintiff) recommended rate of return based on subsequently observed decreases in Treasury bond interest rates not in that closed record; on rehearing, Union argued Treasury rates weren't even relevant to an electric utility's cost of equity capital, and while FERC did adjust the rate somewhat based on later interest rate increases, it summarily dismissed Union's core argument that reliance on the rates was inappropriate in the first place.
Whether, under the Administrative Procedure Act, a party is entitled to an opportunity to dispute an agency's official notice of a material fact not in the administrative record, and to contest the appropriateness of the agency's reliance on it.