Court ruling would affect poor-credit CMP customers

State utility regulators were correct when they ordered Central Maine Power Co. to put $2.6 million into an account for its energy suppliers in 2012, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled on Tuesday.

The account was for deliquent-prone customers.

The ruling backs a decision by the Maine Public Utilities Commission and deals with how funds were collected and applied between 2008 and 2010. .

The ruling won’t have any impact on the current rates, but the PUC’s decision would affect how the collection for customers with poor credit histories is calculated in future rate-making, the court said.

Judge: Allowing groundfish carryover violated law

A judge has ruled that the National Marine Fisheries Service violated federal law when it allowed New England fishermen to carry uncaught groundfish allocation into the following year.

The service made the adjustment as part of a group of changes to New England’s Multispecies Fishery Management Plan in 2013. Judge James E. Boasberg of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled April 4 the carryover provision increases likelihood that “environmental harm, in the form of excessive fishing” would take place.

A spokeswoman for the National Marine Fisheries Service said the agency is determining how to respond to the ruling.

Courtroom in smartphone case abuzz with devices

One of the biggest problems for a federal judge overseeing a patent battle between the world’s largest smartphone makers is getting the roomful of smartphone devotees to turn off their devices.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh has become frustrated during the trial pitting Apple against Samsung because the many personal Wi-Fi signals interfere with a network the judge relies on for a real-time transcript of the proceedings.