Opinion

State Ex Rel. Utilities Commission v. General Telephone Co. of the Southeast

  • 281 N.C. 318
  • 189 S.E.2d 705
  • 1972 N.C. LEXIS 1080
Court
Supreme Court of North Carolina
Filed
Jun 16, 1972
Status
Published
Author
Higgins
On the bench
Lake, Bobbitt, Higgins, Sharp
Cited by
95 cases

Superseded by statute, as recognized in State Ex Rel. Utilities Commission v. Duke Power Co.

“The Commission, however, does not have the full power of the Legislature but only that portion conferred upon it in G.S. Chapter 62. In fixing the rates to be charged by a public utility for its service, the Commission must, therefore, comply with the requirements of that chapter, more specifically, G.S. 62-133.”

How later courts described this case

  • “The Commission, however, does not have the full power of the Legislature but only that portion conferred upon it in G.S. Chapter 62. In fixing the rates to be charged by a public utility for its service, the Commission must, therefore, comply with the requirements of that chapter, more specifically, G.S. 62-133.”
  • “It is . . . the prerogative of the [Utilities] Commission to determine the credibility of evidence . . . .”
  • noting that patents are intangible assets of corporations
  • ‘“North Carolina users of telephones are not to be required to furnish revenue to maintain applicant’s financial condition which other states refuse to provide’ ”

Written by the judges who cited it.

Later courts went against this

  • Superseded by statute, as recognized in State Ex Rel. Utilities Commission v. Duke Power Co.

    See Utilities Comm. v. Telephone Co., 281 N.C. 318, 189 S.E. 2d 705 (1972), superseded by statute, Utilities Comm. v. Power Co., 305 N.C. 1, 287 S.E. 2d 786 (1982).
    Supreme Court of North CarolinaJan 27, 1982by statutemedium confidenceRead it

The opinion

Justice Higgins,

concurring in part, dissenting in part.

In my view the Court of Appeals committed error in confirming the Commission’s deduction of $978,000 from the rate base on account of equipment purchased from a separate though affiliated corporate dealer. In my opinion, the evidence in the record neither justifies nor supports the deduction.

I vote to remand to the Utilities Commission for reconsideration and correction of this error. Otherwise I think the decision of the Court of Appeals is correct and should be affirmed.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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