Opinion ID: 1224268
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: appeal of vepco

Text: Vepco made 30 assignments of error to the findings, conclusions and order of the Commission. The majority of the Court of Appeals found no error which it considered sufficiently prejudicial to justify a remanding of the cause to the Utilities Commission. One of the assignments of error was to the failure of the Commission to approve Vepco's proposed fossil fuel adjustment clause. In its brief in this Court, Vepco states that a subsequent order of the Commission authorizing Vepco to put into effect a fossil fuel adjustment clause has made this assignment of error moot. Apparently, the subsequent order to which Vepco refers was entered in another proceeding. It is not presently before us. Consequently, on this appeal we do not have before us any question as to the propriety of any fuel adjustment clause, either that proposed by Vepco in the present proceeding or that said to have been approved by the Commission after its entry of the order to which this appeal relates. We, therefore, express no opinion as to the right of an electric utility to make a fuel adjustment clause a part of its rate schedules, or any of them, when such clause has not been approved by the Commission. The remaining assignments of error made by Vepco relate to three major contentions: (1) The Commission erred in determining the fair value of Vepco's properties, used and useful in rendering retail electric service in this State, by its failure to give proper weight to the replacement cost of such properties; (2) the Commission erred by its failure to determine properly the fair rate of return which Vepco is entitled to earn on the fair value of its properties; (3) in determining Vepco's rate base, specifically the allowance therein for working capital requirements, and in determining the allowance for certain operating expenses, the Commission made certain accounting errors. We turn now to these contentions.