PG&E; Wins Ruling in Gas Price-Fixing Case

PG&E; Corp. won an appeals court ruling in a suit charging that it fixed prices for natural gas bought in Canada and shipped to California, costing the state’s consumers millions of dollars. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court decision dismissing the class-action suit, which was filed by Stanislaus County on behalf of other customers against the San Francisco-based gas and electric utility. The appeals court agreed with a lower court judge that a legal standard known as the “filed rate doctrine” bars antitrust claims against companies whose rates have been approved by federal agencies. Tony Tanke, an attorney for the plaintiffs, vowed to appeal.