Opinion ID: 2454404
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Railroad Comm'n v. Lone Star Gas Co.

Text: In determining whether the PUC has the authority to make GTE's new rates effective on a date prior to the issuance of the final rate order under the circumstances present in this case, we must also consider Railroad Comm'n v. Lone Star Gas Co., 656 S.W.2d 421 (Tex.1983). In Lone Star, this court discussed the authority of a regulatory agency to determine the effective date of a new rate, stating generally that [t]he courts of this state have provided that in order to compensate for `regulatory lag,' the Commission in its discretion may make the new rates effective at any date prior to the issuance of the order but following the attachment of the agency's jurisdiction. Id. at 426. However, Lone Star is distinguishable from the present case. Lone Star primarily involved the appellate jurisdiction of the Railroad Commission under section 26 of PURA, although a relatively small portion of the rates at issue were before the Commission under section 43. Lone Star had filed for rate increases with the City of Kaufman, and upon rejection of those rates, Lone Star appealed to the Commission. Lone Star also filed for a rate increase to the environs of the City of Kaufman (those living outside the limits of the City). This was filed directly with the Commission, invoking its original jurisdiction under section 43. In applying Lone Star in this case, we must first recognize that the Commission was exercising its appellate jurisdiction with respect to most of the rates at issue. Just as an appellate court would have the authority to make its judgment effective as of the date of the trial court judgment under review, the Commission had the authority to make rates effective as of a date earlier than its final order. [13] In Lone Star, this court did not discuss the source, if any, of the Commission's authority to make rates under section 43 retroactive. In fact, neither party in Lone Star disputed the PUC's authority under section 43 to make the new rates effective on a date prior to the issuance of the final rate order. Consequently, Lone Star does not stand for the proposition that the PUC has the implied authority under section 43 to make rates effective retroactively.