State regulation of public utilities in Texas
Creators: name: Johnson, Jack
Publisher: name: The University of Texas at Austin
Year: 1932
Subjects: subject: Public utilities
subject: Texas
subject: State regulation
subject: Law and legislation
subject: Utility regulation
subject: Public utilities--Texas
subject: Public utilities--Law and legislation--Texas

description: The system of utility regulation in Texas is of a dual nature. Some utilities are under the control of the Railroad Commission, and the others, in so far as they are regulated at all, are under the control of municipalities. It is my purpose in this study to trace the historical development of the State's control of public utilities, and to criticise the system, or lack of system, in the light of modern judicial and economic theory. Since railroads were the first utilities to be regulated, and since most of the fundamental principles of all utility regulation have developed from the efforts of the States to control railroads, it seems appropriate to begin this study with the State's efforts to regulate that industry. This work began in earnest with the establishment of the Railroad Commission in 1891. At that time the Commission was given jurisdiction over railroads and express companies, but its authority has been extended, from time to time, to include a number of other utilities. From 1917 when the Legislature passed an Act declaring oil pipe lines "common carriers" and placed them under the control of the Railroad Commission, it has extended the range of the Commission's control to include the production of oil and gas, gas pipe lines, gas distributing companies, and bus and truck lines. Despite this extension of State control, however, there are a number of utilities yet unregulated by State authority. Power and light companies have developed rapidly in the last few years, and they have spread their network of high power transmission lines to all parts of the State. These are regulated to some extent by the larger municipalities through franchise, contract, etc., but in smaller towns and villages, there is no adequate control of these companies, either by local authorities or by the State. In this situation abuses by the power companies have given rise to agitation for more state control. Bills have been introduced in the last two session of the Legislature to establish a utilities commission, to regulate power and light companies, and also gas companies which are now under the control of the Railroad Commission. None of these bills were enacted into law because of a division among friends of the measures. Some of the members of the Legislature wanted to extend the powers of the Railroad Commission to include these utilities, while others insisted that the Railroad Commission already has more duties than it can perform. They contended that the jurisdiction of the Railroad Commission should be limited to the regulation of transportation, and that a general utilities commission with powers to regulate all other utilities would better serve the interests of the public. It is not the purpose of this study to discuss the relative merits of this controversy, but it is hoped that it may throw some light on the issues it involves