Opinion ID: 1887718
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Suspension of General Law

Text: The trial court held that § 7 of the Act, which provides for the assignment of electric-service territories in certain geographic areas under the Nonduplication Agreements, suspended the operation of a general law and did so for the benefit of private corporations, and thus violated § 108 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901. While the Opponents argue that § 7 of the Act suspends the closer to and option rules, in violation of § 108, the Proponents argue that the Act, viewed as a whole, regulates competition of electric suppliers by assigning service territories, and that one provision of the Act should not be viewed as suspending other provisions designed to accommodate different circumstances. Section 108 of the Alabama Constitution provides: The operation of a general law shall not be suspended for the benefit of any individual, private corporation, or association; nor shall any individual, private corporation or association be exempted from the operation of any general law except as in this article otherwise provided. Section 108 prohibits an exemption for a private corporation from a general statute designed to govern a general circumstance. Accordingly, this Court has held that the exemption of one business from the general prohibition of the sale of liquor on Sundays was repugnant to the predecessor of § 108 because the exemption thwarted the general purpose of the regulatory statute. Beauvoir Club v. State, 148 Ala. 643, 651-52, 42 So. 1040, 1043 (1907). Section 7, however, does not suspend the general regulatory plan of the Act so as to allow a private corporation to duplicate costs. Instead, § 7 assures that no actual or potential duplication will arise in the areas covered by the Nonduplication Agreements. Thus, § 7 is not an exemption from the requirement not to duplicate facilities, but an integral part of the Legislature's plan to prevent such duplication. Accordingly, we cannot hold that § 7 of the Act violates § 108 of the Alabama Constitution.