Enbridge Gas Ohio prevails at Ohio Supreme Court

Client(s) East Ohio Gas Company

Jones Day prevailed at the Ohio Supreme Court on behalf of our client, The East Ohio Gas Company (Enbridge Gas Ohio ("Enbridge")). Enbridge was sued in state court in a putative class action by a group of natural-gas producers. The complaint alleged that Enbridge "stole" the producers' natural gas—that the producers had delivered gas into Enbridge's system, and that Enbridge sold that gas without reimbursing the producers. Enbridge argued that the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio had exclusive jurisdiction over these claims.

Enbridge retained Jones Day to handle the Ohio Supreme Court appeal. In a unanimous, per curiam decision, the Ohio Supreme Court agreed with our arguments that the trial court "unambiguously lacked jurisdiction" over these class claims. The Commission's administrative expertise was required to resolve the issues in dispute because the claims required the decisionmaker to apply Enbridge's Commission-approved tariff. And the alleged conduct at issue (reconciling gas into and out of Enbridge's system) was a practice normally authorized by a public utility. Only the Commission, therefore, could entertain these claims.

The East Ohio Gas Company d/b/a Dominion Energy Ohio v. Judge Christine Croce, No. 2024-1708 (Ohio)