For Immediate Release
December 2, 2015
Contact: Block RICL, Mary Mauch
815-315-8506
Oral Arguments Heard by Illinois Third Appellate Court in Appeal of Rock Island Clean Line Case
On Tuesday, December 1, 2015 in Ottawa, Illinois, three Third Appellate Court judges heard oral arguments in
the appeal of the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) ruling granting Rock Island Clean Line (RICL) public
utility status. (Docket 12-0560)
Attorney Glenn Rippie orally argued on behalf of the appellants, including the Illinois Landowners Alliance
(ILA), Illinois Farm Bureau, and ComEd. While there were numerous issues argued in briefs, oral arguments
were limited to 15 minute per side and, therefore, the appellants focused their oral arguments on two major
points.
First, RICL does not meet the legal standard to be a public utility and, therefore, the commission legally erred
by granting RICL a certificate by ignoring the clear language of the statute. The second major point argued is
that RICL does not satisfy the requirement of the law that it be found capable of financing the construction of
the $2 Billion line, and that there was not a due process-based hearing procedure to satisfy the requirements
of the law.
In a demonstrative poster presented to the judges by Mr. Rippie, six attributes of public utilities were listed,
including assets, customers, service, obligation to serve, obligations to serve all qualified, and nondiscriminatory rates. It was argued repeatedly that RICL possesses absolutely none of the attributes.
Scott Thorsen, frequent RICL bloger sums up the arguments he observed, “While the ICC believes this case is
unusual and bordering on unprecedented, this is merely a company that refuses to fit into the public utility
model of Illinois. There is no commitment from RICL to build the project, there is no financing to build the
project, and there is no commitment to serve the ratepayers of Illinois as a public utility. RICL wants Illinois
residents to sacrifice non-renewable resources, but does not unequivocally commit to Illinois residents and
ratepayers or offer any legally-binding or definite benefit for those sacrifices.”
Paul Marshall, ILA member stated, “Although eminent domain is not an issue in this current proceeding, I was
pleased that the judge noted that the purpose of eminent domain by a private merchant company was linked
to keeping the land acquisition costs low so that profits could be maximized. That’s wholly unacceptable and
why we must continue to oppose this unprecedented case.”
The historic courtroom was filled with about one-third attorneys and two-thirds RICL opposition. Amy Kurt
was the sole Clean Line Energy Partners employee present. Block RICL leader Susan Sack said, “It was
gratifying and heartwarming to see neighbors and landowners from across the state representing our
concerns in this distinguished courtroom. I’ve lived close to this courthouse my entire life, but never before
has it felt so important to the essence of our lives and livelihoods.”
Mary Mauch, ILA Executive Director said, “We are so pleased with the oral arguments prepared by our
attorneys and the excellent presentation by Mr. Rippie. The three judges asked many direct questions that cut
through the RICL stump speech and quickly got to the heart of the legal matters that we’re working so hard to
defend.”
In conjunction with the oral arguments, the Appellate Court will review findings of fact and the ICC’s
application of the law to the facts. There is no time line for the Appellate Court to make a decision, although 23 months is typical. Because of the volume of documents and the precedent setting nature of the case, it could
be many months before a ruling is made.
An audio recording of the oral arguments can be heard at:
http://multimedia.illinois.gov/court/AppellateCourt/Audio/2015/3rd/120115_3-15-0099_3-15-0103_3-150104.mp3
Background: The RICL project is a proposed, 500-mile high-voltage direct current electric transmission line that seeks to make a profit
shipping electricity from Iowa to more expensive East Coast markets. RICL is a private spec project and is not part of any regional grid
expansion studies or plans and has not been identified to meet any regional reliability, economic or public policy need by regional grid
authorities.