![handle is hein.journals/wmitch46 and id is 1 raw text is:
A KAFKAESQUE PROCESSP FERC JURISDICTION
DURING CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCY
Richard E.B. Dornfeld* and Cory J. Marsolek**
[A] correct understanding of a matter and a
misunderstanding of the same matter are not mutually
exclusive.
I. IN T RO D U CT IO N .................................................................................2
II. THE BANKRUPTCY CODE, FEDERAL POWER ACT, AND ENERGY
M A RK ET S......................................................................................... 4
A. The Bankruptcy Code ................................................................5
B. The Federal Power Act ..............................................................7
C Wholesale Energy Markets ...................................................9
III. FILED RATE AND MOBILE-SIERRA DOCTRINES............................13
A. Filed Rate Doctrine ..................................................................13
B . M obile-Sierra D octrine.............................................................16
IV. FERC AND THE BANKRUPTCY COURTS........................................18
A. Mirant 's Argument....................................................................19
1. Mirant's Consideration of the Filed Rate Doctrine...........19
2. Mirant's Rejection as Breach Framework ..................20
B. Mirant is Unpersuasive .............................................................24
1. Mirant Drew Improper Distinctions Between the Contract
T erm s.............................................................................. 24
2 Rejection Marks a Radical Departure from Traditional
Contract Law.......................................................................28
V. FERC'S EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION ................................................32
A . Exclusive Jurisdiction................................................................32
1. The Federal Power Act Demands Exclusive Jurisdiction.32
2. Bankruptcy Code Section 1129(a)(6) Accommodates
FE R C .............................................................................. 35
B . N extW ave and Bildisco............................................................37
C A Congressional Fix..................................................................40
VI. CONCLUSION ...................................................................................41
Juris Doctor, Mitchell Hamline School of Law, 2019; Bachelor of Arts, Political Science,
Hamline University, 2012.
1 Juris Doctor, Mitchell Hamline School of Law, 2018; Bachelor of Arts, Public
Administration and Political Science, Winona State University, 2015.
' FRANZ KAFKA, THE TRIAL 122 (DER PROZESS) (David Wyllie trans., Dover Thrift Editions
ed. 2009) (1925) (detailing a surreal account of an ordinary person's prosecution by a
mindless and incomprehensible legal system); see infra note 241, Mem. Decision on Action
for Declaratory & Injunctive Relief at 19; In re PG&E Corp., 603 B.R. 471, 484 (Bankr.
N.D. Cal. 2019) (Imagine the absurdity of the exclusive appeal route espoused by FERC .
... Kafka might have designed it[.J).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/wmitch46&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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