Opinion ID: 1671167
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Powers and Duties of the Commission

Text: Article IV, § 21(B) of the Louisiana Constitution establishes the Commission's powers and duties, stating: (B) Powers and Duties. The commission shall regulate all common carriers and public utilities and have such other regulatory authority as provided by law. It shall adopt and enforce reasonable rules, regulations, and procedures necessary for the discharge of its duties, and shall have other powers and perform other duties as provided by law. This provision gives the Commission constitutional jurisdiction over public utilities and has been interpreted as granting the Commission independent and plenary power to regulate public utilities. Gulf States Utilities Co. v. Louisiana Public Service Com'n, 92-1185 (La.3/17/94), 633 So.2d 1258. Commenting on the plenary powers the Commission is given by this constitutional provision, we stated in Bowie v. Louisiana Public Service Com'n: The Commission's power in this regard is as complete in every respect as the regulatory power that would have been vested in the legislature in the absence of Article IV Sec. 21(B). Therefore, the legislature's acts or omissions can not subtract from the Commission's exclusive, plenary power to regulate all common carriers and public utilities. 627 So.2d 164 (La.1993) (citations omitted). The Commission is created to exercise regulatory police power over public utilities, to compel the performance by utilities of their public duties, and to safeguard the interests of the utilities and the public. Morehouse Natural Gas Co. v. Louisiana Public Service Com'n, 242 La. 985, 140 So.2d 646 (1962). Consequently, the Commission is vested explicitly and implicitly with the constitutional power necessary to perform its function of regulating public utilities through the adoption and enforcement of reasonable rules and orders fundamental to these purposes. Bowie, 627 So.2d at 166.