Opinion ID: 2337474
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: effect of p.l. #1967, ch. 382

Text: The Commission was of course cognizant of the fact that the Legislature had enacted amendments to become effective on a date subsequent to the Commission decree. In this connection the Commission stated: We take judicial notice of the fact that the Maine Legislature has changed the existing law by Chapter 382 of the Public Laws of Maine, 1967, AN ACT to Grant Public Utilities Commission Control over Cooperatives. This law, however, does not become effective as such until ninety-one days after the adjournment of the Legislature which will be October 8, 1967. We are bound by the law that is in existence at the time of our decision. The Commission accordingly based its decision primarily on its determination as to whether or not it was economically feasible for Maine Public to render the requested service. Heath v. Maine Public Service Co. (1965), 161 Me. 217, 210 A.2d 701. This was the applicable test under the law as it existed on October 3, 1967, the date of the decree. As a quasi-judicial body the Commission had a duty to render decisions on petitions which had been pending more than two years and was under no obligation to defer its decision because of a change in the law effective in futuro. Moreover, the same Legislature enacted P. L.1967, Ch. 10 which amended 1 M.R.S.A. Sec. 302 to read: Actions and proceedings pending at the time of the passage or repeal of an Act are not affected thereby. (Italicized words added by amendment). The petitions were proceedings pending before the Commission, Dickinson, supra, and as such would by force of the amendment be governed by the law as it existed before the enactment of P.L.1967, Ch. 382. P.L.1967, Ch. 10 became effective on October 7, 1967, whereas as we have seen P.L. 1967, Ch. 382 by express legislative fiat became effective one day later. Decision does not rest, however, on this difference. Even if the amendments had become operative on the same date, the result would have been the same. P.L.1967, Ch. 10 and Ch. 382 are not conflicting, mutually inconsistent or irreconcilable. Each can be given its full force and effect without diminishing the effect of the other, and both must stand as statutes of the State. Stuart v. Chapman (1908), 104 Me. 17, 24, 70 A. 1069, 1072. So construed, the statutes provided prospectively new criteria for determination by the Commission of petitions filed by customers of a cooperative seeking service from another utility serving the same areabut these new criteria are not applicable to petitions already pending on October 8, 1967. It is apparent, therefore, that the appellant was not prejudiced by the fact that the order of the Commission was promulgated a few days before the amendments became operative. In so holding, we are mindful of the fact that P.L.1967, Ch. 382, Sec. 1 contains language which purports to make it partially retrospective. The second paragraph of the new Sec. 2301 of 35 M.R.S.A. as amended by Sec. 1 states:  After September 1, 1967, where a cooperative organized under chapters 221 to 227 and a public utility distributing electrical energy are serving or authorized to serve the same city, town, plantation or other governmental unit, neither the cooperative nor said utility shall bring electrical service to any new service location unless it shall have notified the other and the Public Utilities Commission, in writing, of the request by the party for such electrical service, where the bringing of such service requires the extension of existing distribution facilities. If, after such notice, the other opposes the bringing of electrical service to said new service location, it shall, within 7 days of the receipt of the notice of proposed service, file objections to the bringing of such electrical service with the Public Utilities Commission sending a copy of said objections to the utility or cooperative, as the case may be, and to the party requesting the electrical service. If objections are filed, the commission shall immediately set the matter down for hearing, and shall determine which shall serve, and pending the final determination of the right to serve, the commission may order temporary service to be brought to said prospective new service location without prejudice to the rights of any party involved. If, after such notice, either the cooperative or the utility fails to file its objections as aforesaid, it will be conclusively presumed that the cooperative or the utility, as the case may be, has consented to the bringing of such service. (Emphasis ours) Sec. 5 for the first time makes cooperatives fully regulated public utilities and thus eliminates the constitutional problems which we noted in Dickinson, supra. Dickinson teaches, however, that territorial protection and submission to Commission regulation are inseparable. For the very reasons delineated in Dickinson the Legislature could not grant to cooperatives territorial protection as of September 1, 1967 while not subjecting them to full regulatory control until October 8, 1967. To satisfy constitutional requirements, therefore, we read the above quoted paragraph of Sec. 1 as though the words After September 1, 1967 were deleted therefrom. Thus construed, the statutes as amended provide a consistent and harmonious pattern which places cooperatives on the same footing as other regulated utilities with respect to both protection and control. For the above reasons, it was not error for the Commission to apply the law on October 3, 1967 as it existed prior to the enactment of P.L.1967, Ch. 382.