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Articles 4561 - 4590 of 4684

Full-Text Articles in Energy and Utilities Law

Constitutional Law - Public Utilities - Standing Of Public Utilities To Challenge The Constitutionality Of The Tva, Michigan Law Review May 1939

Constitutional Law - Public Utilities - Standing Of Public Utilities To Challenge The Constitutionality Of The Tva, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Eighteen electric utilities, with non-exclusive franchises and in direct competition with the TVA in selling power wholesale to municipalities, cooperatives and large industrial plants, sought to enjoin the activities and projects of the TVA and its directors as being unconstitutional and as contravening their rights under the fifth, ninth, and tenth amendments. Fraud, duress, and misrepresentations in securing customers were charged. A court of three judges dismissed the bill, holding that there was no fraud or duress and that the TVA was constitutional. Fourteen utilities appealed to the United States Supreme Court. Held, with Justices Butler and McReynolds dissenting, …

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Rate Regulation By Government Competition, C. L. C. Apr 1939

Rate Regulation By Government Competition, C. L. C.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

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Public Utilities - Franchises - Enforceability Against Utility Of Franchise Provision Regarding Rates When City Is Not Bound, Menefee D. Blackwell Apr 1939

Public Utilities - Franchises - Enforceability Against Utility Of Franchise Provision Regarding Rates When City Is Not Bound, Menefee D. Blackwell

Michigan Law Review

The charter of the city of Texarkana, Texas, provided that none of the privileges usually granted public utilities should be enjoyed in the city except such as were permitted by franchise given by the city council, and that such franchises should expressly reserve the right of regulating the utilities. The city entered a franchise agreement with respondent utility by which rates charged in the Texas city were not to be higher than those charged in another part of the city which was in Arkansas. The Arkansas rates were lowered by judicial action, and this proceeding was to enforce the lower …

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Taxation - Public Utilities - Implied Condition In Utility Franchise Of Tax Exemption, Allen A. Rubin Mar 1939

Taxation - Public Utilities - Implied Condition In Utility Franchise Of Tax Exemption, Allen A. Rubin

Michigan Law Review

In 1917 the city of New York and the New York Municipal Railway Corporation, predecessor in interest of the appellant, the New York Rapid Transit Corporation, entered into a contract for the operation of part of the city's transit system. The Transit Corporation was thereby obligated to furnish its services for a five cent fare, which by city charter provision could not be changed without the approval on referendum of a majority of the qualified voters. Other relevant portions of the contract provided that the corporation should pay all taxes upon its property and taxes incurred in connection with the …

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Public Utilities - Power Of City To Reduce Rates Allowed By Franchise, M. D. Blackwell Feb 1939

Public Utilities - Power Of City To Reduce Rates Allowed By Franchise, M. D. Blackwell

Michigan Law Review

The city of Miami gave a franchise to a utility to sell electric power, providing that after a stated period of time it should have the right to charge rates which would enable it to have an annual return of at least ten per cent on the rate base over and above operating expenses. The right to set rates, however, was made "subject to the lawful regulatory authority of the city or state commission having jurisdiction," and it was further provided that "this grant shall at all times be subject to the right of the state of Florida, directly or …

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Public Utilities: The Influence Of Nebbia V. People On State Regulation, John B. Breckinridge Jan 1939

Public Utilities: The Influence Of Nebbia V. People On State Regulation, John B. Breckinridge

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

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A Classification Of Public Utilities--As Affected By Nebbia V. New York, Bettie Gilbert Jan 1939

A Classification Of Public Utilities--As Affected By Nebbia V. New York, Bettie Gilbert

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

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Constitutional Law -Validity Of Registration Provisions Of Public Utility Holding Company Act Of 1935, Gerald L. Stoetzer Jun 1938

Constitutional Law -Validity Of Registration Provisions Of Public Utility Holding Company Act Of 1935, Gerald L. Stoetzer

Michigan Law Review

In recognition of the abuses that arise from the monopolistic tendencies of holding companies in the public utility field and of the inability of the respective states to exert the necessary control thereof, Congress has attempted to draw certain of the public utility holding companies within the inquisitorial and regulatory control of the federal Securities and Exchange Commission. The Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, reciting in great detail facts showing the necessity for control of holding companies having as subsidiaries electric and gas operating utilities, indicates that Congress regarded the uncontrolled utility holding company as "an agency which, …

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Public Utilities - Rate Regulation - Reproduction Cost And Prudent Investment As Factors In Determining "Fair Value", Erwin B. Ellmann Mar 1938

Public Utilities - Rate Regulation - Reproduction Cost And Prudent Investment As Factors In Determining "Fair Value", Erwin B. Ellmann

Michigan Law Review

At a hearing conducted by the California Railroad Commission, the existing gas rates charged by a utility were deemed unreasonable, and a new schedule of rates was prescribed. The commission, in determining the rate base, used historical cost exclusively, and refused to attach any weight to the present cost of reproducing the properties. A three-judge federal court enjoined the enforcement of the rates without making a finding that as prescribed the rates were confiscatory. Held, by a majority of the Court, the trial court was without power to enjoin the enforcement of the rates, regardless of the method of …

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Constitutional Law - Public Works Administration - Validity - Requisite Interest To Challenge Constitutionality, Gerald L. Stoetzer Feb 1938

Constitutional Law - Public Works Administration - Validity - Requisite Interest To Challenge Constitutionality, Gerald L. Stoetzer

Michigan Law Review

After three years of prolonged litigation which has deprived the nation of many intended immediate benefits, another New Deal measure commonly known as the Public Works Administration has withstood the legal attacks persistently made upon it. One of the earliest enactments of the Seventy-third Congress during the present administration, Title II of the National Industrial Recovery Act, passed with the view of directing the country from an economic abyss, recently received judicial sanction in the United States Supreme Court, although Title I of the same act was early attacked and decreed unconstitutional in Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States. Title …

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Public Utilities - Collections - Discontinuance Of Service, Charles E. Nadeau Dec 1937

Public Utilities - Collections - Discontinuance Of Service, Charles E. Nadeau

Michigan Law Review

Defendant's rate schedule provided for a minimum charge of $1 per month for each month of the year. Plaintiff was connected to defendant's system in May. The first electric bill included four dollars as the minimum charge for the months from January to May, defendant claiming that the minimum charges ran from the first of the calendar year. Plaintiff paid for the other items but refused payment of the four dollars. Service was discontinued in July. The lower court decided that it did not have jurisdiction to give either an injunction or damages. Held, where an account is honestly …

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Torts - Liability Of Power Company To Resident For Non-Performance Of Contract With City To Keep Street Light Burning, Paul R. Trigg Dec 1937

Torts - Liability Of Power Company To Resident For Non-Performance Of Contract With City To Keep Street Light Burning, Paul R. Trigg

Michigan Law Review

Defendant public utility was under contract to a municipality to light the streets. Plaintiff, a local resident, was injured in an automobile collision which, he alleged, was caused by defendant's negligent failure to keep a certain street light burning. Defendant demurred. Held, that the demurrer was properly sustained. Tollison v. Georgia Power Co., 53 Ga. App. 795, 187 S. E. 181 (1936).

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Public Utilities - Constitutionality Of Statute Imposing Regulatory Costs Upon Utilities, Charles W. Allen Nov 1937

Public Utilities - Constitutionality Of Statute Imposing Regulatory Costs Upon Utilities, Charles W. Allen

Michigan Law Review

A state statute imposed an annual fee of one-tenth of one per cent of gross operating revenues upon public utilities. The fees were placed in a state revolving fund used to defray the expenses of administration of the public service law. Plaintiff railroad paid the fees under protest and brought an action to recover that amount, claiming that the act was unconstitutional. The trial court held that the act was unconstitutional on its face. The state supreme court revised this decision, holding that act valid and placing the burden of proof on the plaintiff to show that it had become …

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Municipal Corporations - Implied Power To Sell Appliances As Incidental To Power To Operate Municipal Light Plant, Milton Rabinowitz Nov 1937

Municipal Corporations - Implied Power To Sell Appliances As Incidental To Power To Operate Municipal Light Plant, Milton Rabinowitz

Michigan Law Review

A Massachusetts statute authorized municipalities to "construct, purchase or lease, and maintain . . . one or more plants for the manufacture or distribution of gas or electricity for municipal use, or for the use of its inhabitants." Pursuant to this statute the town of Concord contracted with the Edison Electric Company of Boston to supply the municipal light plant with electrical energy for distribution by the latter to local consumers. In order to take advantage of a lower rate to enable it to meet the competition of a privately owned gas company, the municipality sought to increase consumption by …

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Public Utility Regulation And The So-Called Sliding Scale, Ralph M. White Apr 1937

Public Utility Regulation And The So-Called Sliding Scale, Ralph M. White

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

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Public Utilities - Original Cost Of Plant As Item In Company Accounts, Emma Rae Mann Mar 1937

Public Utilities - Original Cost Of Plant As Item In Company Accounts, Emma Rae Mann

Michigan Law Review

Forty-four telephone companies, thirty-seven of them members of the Bell system, and seven of them members of another group, sued to set aside an order of the Federal Communications Commission prescribing a uniform system of accounts for telephone companies. The companies contended that the system of accounts ordered prevented them from realizing a fair return on their total investment. The Court held that the order of the commission was valid and dismissed the bill. American Tel. & Tel. Co. v. United States, 299 U.S. 232, 57 S. Ct. 170 (1936).

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Significant Changes In Public Utility Law, Hugh Evander Willis Jan 1937

Significant Changes In Public Utility Law, Hugh Evander Willis

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

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Commission Jurisdiction Over Utility Cooperatives, Israel Packel Jan 1937

Commission Jurisdiction Over Utility Cooperatives, Israel Packel

Michigan Law Review

A group of farmers desire electricity. They propose to form a cooperative, to borrow money and to construct electric distribution lines. They probably will incorporate the cooperative as a stock or non-stock corporation in order to obtain the benefit of limited liability. The cooperative might be formed under a statute specifically enacted to authorize the formation of cooperatives or under a general incorporation statute. Normally, the charter of the cooperative will provide for equality in control by the members or shareholders and for a limited return or no return on capital investment. The cooperative will probably apply to the Federal …

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Public Utilities - Judicial Review Of The Rate Base Nov 1936

Public Utilities - Judicial Review Of The Rate Base

Michigan Law Review

The Secretary of Agriculture made an order fixing the rates chargeable by the appellant, the rate base being determined by the cost of reproduction new less depreciation. The district court held that, since by congressional act the findings of fact of the Secretary were made conclusive, the court could not make an independent determination of the value but was bound to take the Secretary's valuation if there was substantial evidence to support it. However, the court then went on to review the evidence before the Secretary and concluded that the appellant had failed to show that the valuation was "clearly …

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Public Utilities - Charging Companies With Expense Of Investigation - Constitutionality Jun 1936

Public Utilities - Charging Companies With Expense Of Investigation - Constitutionality

Michigan Law Review

A Washington statute provides that whenever the public service commission shall deem it necessary in the performance of its duties to make any investigation or valuation of a public service company, the public service company shall pay the expenses reasonably attributable thereto. The statute provides that the commission, after giving an opportunity to be heard, "shall render a bill therefor or for such part thereof as it may find necessary and reasonable." In an appeal by certain public service companies from an assessment made by the commission, held, the statute was unconstitutional because of denial of equal protection of …

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Public Utilities-Injunction Restraining Enforcement Of Rate Order Of State Commission-Jurisdiction Of Federal Court Under Johnson Act Jun 1936

Public Utilities-Injunction Restraining Enforcement Of Rate Order Of State Commission-Jurisdiction Of Federal Court Under Johnson Act

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs sued in a federal district court for an injunction restraining enforcement of an order of the Corporation Commission of Oklahoma reducing gas rates. The plaintiffs alleged that the new rates were confiscatory and in violation of due process of law under the Fourteenth Amendment. It appeared that there was much uncertainty in the decisions of the Supreme Court of Oklahoma as to whether the appeal to that court from the orders of the Corporation Commission were legislative or judicial. Held, that in view of the uncertainty of an opportunity for judicial review of the orders of the Commission, …

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Constitutional Law-National Power Over Navigable Streams - Property Clause - Corporations - Stockholders' Suit Jan 1936

Constitutional Law-National Power Over Navigable Streams - Property Clause - Corporations - Stockholders' Suit

Michigan Law Review

The recent decision of the Supreme Court in the TVA case raises issues of extreme importance not only in regard to the interpretation of the property clause of the federal Constitution, but also in regard to the requisites for a suit by minority stockholders of a corporation questioning the actions of the corporate management.

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Public Utilities -- Rate-Base -- Late Supreme Court Decisions Nov 1935

Public Utilities -- Rate-Base -- Late Supreme Court Decisions

Michigan Law Review

In fixing the rate-base of a telephone company, the Maryland Public Service Commission translated the agreed 1923 rate-base (with all subsequent additions to plant) to 1933 price levels by means of a composite price index which included both general all-commodity indices, and indices particularly adapted to the telephone business. Held, that an order enjoining enforcement of the rates will be affirmed. West v. Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co., (U.S. 1935) 55 S. Ct. 894.

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Gas And Electricity In Interstate Commerce - Part Iii - State Taxation, Robert L. Howard Sep 1935

Gas And Electricity In Interstate Commerce - Part Iii - State Taxation, Robert L. Howard

University of Missouri Bulletin Law Series

During the past decade gas and electricity have become common subjects of taxation by the states, and a not inconsiderable volume of revenue is now being raised from levies upon their production, sale, transportation and consumption. The subjection to a general property tax of the facilities for producing and dealing in these commodities creates no problem of special interest for the present discussion. The same considerations are involved as in the similar application of such a tax to other types of property, and it has long been recognized that the mere fact of use in the conduct of interstate business …

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Gas And Electricity In Interstate Commerce - Part Ii - Regulation Of Rates And Service, Robert L. Howard Sep 1935

Gas And Electricity In Interstate Commerce - Part Ii - Regulation Of Rates And Service, Robert L. Howard

University of Missouri Bulletin Law Series

The control of gas and electric rates and service by state public service commissions has, for many years, been a common phenomenon. In so far as interstate commerce in these commodities is involved, so as to be of special interest for the present discussion, the matter is of much more recent development. That the transmission of gas' and electric light and power current2 from one state to another is a transaction in interstate commerce is now definitely well established, although as to the latter, it is not a determination of very long standing.'

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Gas And Electricity In Interstate Commerce, Robert L. Howard Aug 1935

Gas And Electricity In Interstate Commerce, Robert L. Howard

University of Missouri Bulletin Law Series

There is perhaps no other concept in the whole field of governmental or constitutional jurisprudence today of more immediate practical significance than that of interstate commerce. In rather striking contrast with conditions of an earlier day, interstate commerce has come to be very closely related to everyday life in a great variety of ways. Regulations now imposed in the name of interstate commerce affect practically every mouthful of food we eat, every article of clothing we wear, everything we buy or sell as well as the fuel with which we cook our food or heat our homes, to mention only …

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Public Utilities - Rates -Value Of The Service As Basis May 1935

Public Utilities - Rates -Value Of The Service As Basis

Michigan Law Review

The power company had been serving a sparsely settled rural district in Utah for many years; it had never during its history paid dividends of over 5 per cent, during the last fourteen years it had averaged 3.75 per cent, and during the last five years 2.75 per cent. On the petition of customers who argued that the company should bear part of the burdens of the economic depression, the state utilities commission ordered a ten per cent reduction of all rates on the basis that the charge should not be more than the service was worth. Held, while …

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The Washington Public Utility Legislation Of 1933: Budget Orders As Res Judicata, John B. Sholley Jan 1935

The Washington Public Utility Legislation Of 1933: Budget Orders As Res Judicata, John B. Sholley

Washington Law Review

The Washington legislature at its regular 1933 session enacted a series of statutes radically altering the system of public utility regulation in this state both in scope and method. Recent years have witnessed similar developments in several other states. As is always the case with novel legislation, a number of questions of statutory construction and of constitutional law have arisen. It is the purpose of this paper to discuss one of the basic constitutional problems presented by the Washington legislation. Can preliminary, fact-finding orders of a public service commission which have been affirmed by the state courts be made conclusive …

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The Washington Public Utility Legislation Of 1933: Budget Orders As Res Judicata, John B. Sholley Jan 1935

The Washington Public Utility Legislation Of 1933: Budget Orders As Res Judicata, John B. Sholley

Washington Law Review

The Washington legislature at its regular 1933 session enacted a series of statutes radically altering the system of public utility regulation in this state both in scope and method. Recent years have witnessed similar developments in several other states. As is always the case with novel legislation, a number of questions of statutory construction and of constitutional law have arisen. It is the purpose of this paper to discuss one of the basic constitutional problems presented by the Washington legislation. Can preliminary, fact-finding orders of a public service commission which have been affirmed by the state courts be made conclusive …

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Public Utilities - Holding Companies - Power Of State Commission To Regulate Intercorporate Charges Jan 1935

Public Utilities - Holding Companies - Power Of State Commission To Regulate Intercorporate Charges

Michigan Law Review

The Public Service Commission of Kansas issued an order directing nine local gas companies to cease setting up as an item of operating expense more than a certain amount for gas being furnished the companies by an interstate pipe line company. The nine distributing companies and the pipe line company, all of which were affiliated companies within the meaning of a Kansas statute and ultimately controlled by the same holding company, secured an injunction in the three-judge federal court, and the commission appealed to the United States Supreme Court. Held, that the injunction should not have been granted. State …

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