⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Fifth Circuit hears DC Transco versus Rainbow Energy, a dispute over electricity trading during Winter Storm Uri. DC Transco held rights to transmit electricity through a link between two power grids, including the Texas grid. It hired Rainbow to manage energy trading and take advantage of price differences between those markets. When the storm hit Texas in February twenty twenty-one, physical electricity trades generated about thirty-seven million dollars in profits, while financial hedging trades lost more than twenty million. Rainbow charged the losses to DC Transco, which says it never approved those trades. Rainbow contends that the trades were part of the parties' established business and did not require the separate approval DC Transco demands. An earlier round of litigation returned to the district court because the appellate record did not establish the state citizenship needed for federal jurisdiction. DC Transco then filed this new lawsuit. The district judge ruled for DC Transco on the contract dispute, but rejected its claim to recover attorney's fees under the agreement. Rainbow now seeks to overturn the contract ruling; DC Transco seeks to preserve that ruling and recover its legal fees. Rainbow's lawyer will speak first and contend that the contract's wording and the parties' years of trading practice support charging these losses to DC Transco.

DC Transco v. Rainbow Energy (No. 25-50906) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, argued October 7, 2026.