California v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

495 U.S. 490 · Decided May 21, 1990 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

California v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was decided on May 21, 1990 unanimously (9–0). The Court affirmed the lower court's decision. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Federal preemption of state legislation or regulation” in the Federalism area.

Read the opinion

• CourtListener (Free Law Project) — opinion text
• Library of Congress — official U.S. Reports scan

Case details

How the Justices voted

Full case caption

California v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1989-082, docket 1989-082-01.

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Other cases on “Federal preemption of state legislation or regulation”

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Cases on the same legal provision: Federal Power Act

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Same Term, same area (Federalism)

• Tafflin v. Levitt
  493 U.S. 455Decided January 22, 19909–0Sandra Day O'Connor
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• Yellow Freight System, Inc. v. Donnelly
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• United Steelworkers of America v. Rawson
  495 U.S. 362Decided May 14, 19906–3Byron R. White
• North Dakota v. United States
  495 U.S. 423Decided May 21, 19905–4John Paul Stevens
• Vera M. English v. General Electric Company
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See all

Source: Supreme Court Database, 2026 Release 01 (data file dated September 8, 2026). Imported into CaseTrail November 5, 2026. Coverage: decisions from the 1946 through 2025 Terms. Methodology · Report an error