Opinion ID: 1187953
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Interim Rate Relief

Text: Mountain Bell claims that the Commission should have granted interim relief prior to the July order upon a showing that Mountain Bell was earning an inadequate rate of return. The validity of at least $17.620 million of rate increases was not disputed by the filed testimony, nor by the testimony adduced at the hearing. Mountain Bell asserts that the Commission's failure to permit interim relief of this amount resulted in several months' lost revenue. Mountain Bell asks that we hold that the Commission should grant interim relief if it is earning less than its latest authorized rate of return, if all testimony supports an increase, or if the rate is so low that it is confiscatory. We decline to do so. The only constitutional relief available to regulated carriers is the six-month period in which the Commission must dispose of requests for rate increases. All parties admit, and we agree, that interim relief is permissible if present rates are confiscatory, but Mountain Bell failed to show this. Beyond protecting these constitutional values, we decline to formulate rules and regulations.