Opinion ID: 3008277
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Fraud in the Public Use of the District Plant

Text: In 2001, the City Council authorized a condemnation lawsuit “for the construction of . . . a district cooling plant for Austin Energy . . . .” The Whittingtons assert that the taking was fraudulent because district cooling is not a public use. We disagree. We have defined public use in similar circumstances as when the public obtains some definite right or use in the undertaking to which the property is devoted. Pate, 309 S.W.2d at 833. “‘It is immaterial if the use is limited to the citizens of a local neighborhood, or that the number of citizens likely to avail themselves of it is inconsiderable, so long as it is open to all who choose to avail themselves of it.’” Higginbotham, 143 S.W.2d at 84 (quoting West, 238 S.W. at 978). Public use, however, does not include a benefit to the public welfare or good under which 17 See supra note 10. 24 any business that promotes the community’s comfort or prosperity might be benefitted from the taking. Pate, 309 S.W.2d at 833. A home rule municipality that provides electric service is serving a public use.18 While the Local Government Code does not expressly authorize takings for district cooling, it does authorize takings “as necessary to efficiently carry out” its purposes of providing public utilities and “for any other municipal purpose the governing body considers advisable.” TEX . LOC. GOV ’T CODE §§ 251.001(a)(5), 552.002(b). The City considered district cooling as a method of efficiently assisting the electric utility by shifting demand from peak to off-peak times, thereby avoiding having to build more power plants. Moreover, the chilled water service is available to any customer that applies, though pricing for the service is determined by the cost of connecting the customer to the chilled water loop. While district cooling may be limited in its geographic scope, it is available to all who apply and agree on pricing with the City. We hold that the district plant here was serving a public use. See Pate, 308 S.W.2d at 833; Higginbotham, 143 S.W.2d at 84.