Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. Energy Resources Commission

Pacific Gas did not serve to change the course of federal regulations over nuclear power. Indeed, it weighed far less on nuclear power and the political issues involved than did Metropolitan Edison v. People Against Nuclear Energy (1983), decided the same year, or the famous Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee (1984) case. The significance of Pacific Gas lay in its illustration of concurrent powers, the operation of federal and state authority in harmony. Its result was an affirmation of the power of federalist principles in the American political framework.