This issue of Sustainable Energy & Infrastructure Connections includes a client spotlight on Smartcar, energy policy news from Washington, litigation updates, recent M&A activity, and industry events.

Sustainable Energy & Infrastructure Connections: August 2026 insights on renewable energy investment, M&A activity, regulations, and market trends.

CARB’s July 2026 workshop provided new guidance on California’s SB 253 climate disclosure requirements, including phased Scope 3 emissions reporting, revised reporting deadlines, assurance standards, insurer obligations, alignment with global reporting frameworks, and opportunities for stakeholder input before the final rule is adopted.

There have been two major recent developments in the ongoing national struggle over the state regulation of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). On June 29, 2026, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Flowers v. Caremark PCS Health, No. 25-3068, that a key element of an Arkansas statute designed to regulate PBMs is preempted by federal law. Three lawsuits have been filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee challenging Tennessee’s recently enacted Fair RX Act, a statute aimed squarely at curbing PBM ownership and control of pharmacies. The Fair RX Act, passed in May, prohibits PBMs from owning pharmacies

July 2026 Sustainable Energy & Infrastructure Connections: data center deals, thermal storage, FERC ANOPR, M&A activity, and climate policy updates.

On June 9, 2026, Express Scripts, Inc. (Express Scripts) filed an action against the Attorney General of the State of Texas, Ken Paxton, seeking a declaratory judgment to prevent the Texas A&M University System (Texas A&M) from releasing an unredacted version of a contract between Express Scripts and Texas A&M.  Following a public information request for the contract, Express Scripts had proposed redactions to shield what it characterizes as (1) trade secrets and confidential commercial and financial information (including pricing, response times, and programmatic details), and (2) personal information of individuals (such as signatures and initials).  The Texas Office of the Attorney General (OAG) reviewed the proposed redactions and, in a ruling dated June 2, 2026, concluded that the contract must be released in its entirety without any redactions.  The OAG determined that, under relevant Texas state law, state agencies are required to post vendor contracts on their websites (Government Code § 2261.253(a)(1)), and that the trade secret and confidential information exemptions present in Texas state law do not apply here (Government Code § 552.0222(b)(1)).  The OAG further held that common-law privacy could not serve as a basis to withhold information that is specifically made public by statute. 

On May 27, 2026, Judge Wood (S.D. Ga.) issued a summary judgment decision in Clover Ins. Co. v. Dep’t of Health and Human Servs., 2:25-cv-00142 (S.D. Ga.) addressing the methodology used by CMS to calculate Medicare Advantage Star Ratings. The decision evaluates the legal basis for certain measures included in CMS’s Star Ratings framework and, as applied to the plaintiff, directs CMS to recalculate Clover’s Star Ratings by specifically excluding certain challenged measures from consideration.

Covers noteworthy developments in the sustainable energy and infrastructure litigation and regulatory spaces.

California’s SB‑219 is reshaping ESG reporting as federal rules fade. Learn why thousands of companies now face major climate‑risk and emissions disclosures.

We cover recent developments in the Chamber of Commerce’s challenge to California’s mandatory climate disclosure laws.