 On August 12, 2014, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that appeal and rejected the permit, finding that the USEPA had improperly grandfathered the project under the old emissions standards.In June 2015, an attorney representing Avenal Power Center LLC sent a letter to the California Energy Commission stating the company "will let the license expire on Sept. 16, 2015" ending the 7-year long effort to build the power plant.Many local residents are employed in agriculture, which experienced significant growth on the westside of the San Joaquin Valley after the completion of the California Aqueduct in the early 1970s.