The Federal District Court in Boston ruled August 27 that it does not have jurisdiction to decide whether the state Department of Public Utilities (DPU) approval of a customer transition charge against MIT's cogeneration power plant by Cambridge Electric Company (CELCO) violates the national Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, which encouraged cogeneration.
"While MIT is disappointed, this is not a ruling on the merits of its claim. The federal court's decision is simply a jurisdictional ruling which refers MIT to the state courts for relief. MIT will pursue its protest against the CELCO customer transition charge in state court," MIT spokesman Kenneth Campbell said
Attorneys expect MIT vs. the Massachusetts DPU will be argued before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court late this year or early next year.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on September 11, 1996.
