Kurt Kuhn of the Austin appellate firm Kuhn Hobbs accused the state and its delegated energy grid manager of ignoring the Texas Legislature’s market-based directive during oral argument before the Texas Supreme Court.

The case heard Tuesday, Public Utility Commission of Texas v. RWE Renewables Americas LLC, concerns whether a Public Utility Commission approval of an Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) protocol constitutes a “competition rule,” and if it is a rule whether the commission violated the Administrative Procedure Act.