Opinion ID: 1984859
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Electric Transmission Act

Text: The PSC argues that the electric transmission act, M.C.L. § 460.551 et seq.; MSA 22.151 et seq., grants it broad authority to regulate all aspects of retail electric service, including services for supplying and delivering electricity, of which retail wheeling is allegedly one. The electric transmission act was the Legislature's first foray into the field of electricity generation and transmission. Sections 1 and 2 of the act provide: When electricity is generated or developed by steam, water or other power, within 1 county of this state, and transmitted and delivered to the consumer in the same or some other county, then the transmission and distribution of the same in or on the public highways, streets and places, the rate of charge to be made to the consumer for the electricity so transmitted and distributed and the rules and conditions of service under which said electricity shall be transmitted and distributed shall be subject to regulation as in this act provided. [MCL 460.551; MSA 22.151.] The Michigan public utilities commission, hereinafter referred to as the commission shall have control and supervision of the business of transmitting and supplying electricity as mentioned in the first section of this act and no public utility supplying electricity shall put into force any rate or charge for the same without first petitioning said commission for authority to initiate or put into force such rate or charge and securing the affirmative action of the commission approving said rate or charge. [MCL 460.552; MSA 22.152.] Contrary to the PSC's assertion, §§ 1 and 2 do not grant it authority to compel a utility to transmit a third-party provider's electricity through its system to an end-user. The grant of control and supervision contained in § 2 is qualified by the language as mentioned in the first section of this act. Thus, the authority granted by § 2 does not extend beyond the subject matter enumerated in § 1. The power to regulate the transmission and distribution of electricity under § 1 is limited to that in or on the public highways, streets and places. It does not encompass a utility's lines that extend over private lands. Moreover, a requirement that a utility transmit a third-party provider's electricity does not constitute a condition of service under which the utility transmits and distributes electricity. In discussing the distinction between rates and services in General Telephone Co. of Michigan v. Public Service Comm., 341 Mich. 620, 636, 67 N.W.2d 882 (1954), this Court approved the following language from Elyria Telephone Co. v. Public Utilities Comm. of Ohio, 158 Ohio St. 441, 446, 110 N.E.2d 59 (1953): There is, of course, no doubt that a utility must render adequate service to its patrons, and the general assembly recognizing that at times service might be inadequate has provided a means whereby a utility may be compelled by the commission to improve its services and facilities. The commission has the power to require adequate service under sections 614-21 and 614-27, General Code, but services and rates, although related, are not wholly dependent on each other. As to rates the question is whether the company is receiving a just and reasonable return on the value of its existing property; the question as to adequate service is whether the company is rendering or is capable of rendering reasonable service with its existing property or whether by improvements, either in the use of the property it owns or by new installations, this can be done. As used in § 1, the term service plainly refers to the utility's supplying its electricity to the end-user, not the use of its lines to transmit another provider's electricity. The word service has different meanings. We construe words and phrases in statutes according to the common usage of the language, but give technical words and phrases their peculiar and appropriate meaning. MCL 8.3a; MSA 2.212(1). Black's Law Dictionary (6th ed.) defines the term service in the context of public utilities as [t]he furnishing of water, heat, light and power, etc., services by utility. That definition comports with those provided in lay dictionaries. [10] Of the numerous definitions included in Random House Webster's College Dictionary, p. 1225, the one relevant for our purposes provides: the supplying or supplier of utilities, commodities, or other facilities that meet a public need, as water, electricity, communication, or transportation. The American Heritage Dictionary (3d ed.), p. 1649, includes among its definitions the following: A facility providing the public with the use of something, such as water or transportation. Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary 7th ed.), p. 793, similarly defines the term as a facility supplying some public demand. Thus, under any definition, the term service does not refer to a utility's transmission of electricity for another provider. To construe the phrase conditions of service as encompassing a requirement that one utility transmit another provider's electricity would require an interpretation that stretches well beyond the plain statutory language. As we reiterated in Union Carbide, supra at 151, 428 N.W.2d 322, however, the PSC has only those powers conferred by clear statutory language. The power conferred by § 1 simply does not encompass the PSC's order. We further note that only electricity generated or developed within 1 county of this state, and transmitted and delivered to the consumer in the same or some other county falls within the scope of the electric transmission act. MCL 460.551; MSA 22.151. Retail wheeling often involves the transmission of electricity generated within another state. To the extent that the experimental program required utilities to wheel power supplied by an out-of-state provider, the program would clearly fall outside the scope of the electric transmission act, even if the act could be construed to grant the PSC the authority to order retail wheeling. The PSC also relies on §§ 6 and 7 of the act, which provide, in pertinent part: The commission shall have power in its discretion to order electric current for distribution to be delivered at a suitable primary voltage, to any city, village or township through which a transmission line or lines may pass; to order service to be rendered by any such electric utility in any case in which it will be reasonable for such service to be ordered.... [MCL 460.556; MSA 22.156.] After investigation and hearing, the commission may by order fix the price of electricity to be charged by the electric utility within lawful limits.... The commission may establish by order rules and conditions of service that are just and reasonable. [MCL 460.557(2); MSA 22.157(2).] These provisions do not grant the PSC broad authority to order retail wheeling. The first clause of § 6 grants the PSC the power to order that electric current for distribution be delivered at a suitable primary voltage to a city, village, or township through which its lines pass. Thus, under the plain language of the statute, the PSC has the authority to set the primary voltage at which a utility transmits electricity to an end-user. Section 6 also authorizes the PSC to order a utility to provide service to a city, village, or township through which its lines pass. Huron Portland Cement, supra at 265-266, 88 N.W.2d 492. It does not confer the power to order a utility to transmit electricity for another provider. Similarly, the authority to establish rules and conditions of service granted in § 7 must be read in conjunction with § 1. That authority clearly does not encompass the PSC's order. Accordingly, we conclude that the electric transmission act does not grant the PSC the authority to order retail wheeling. [11]