Court Opinion

ID: 9613146
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 04:14:33.649571+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:03:25.832027
License: Public Domain

CROCKETT, Retired Justice
(concurring with added comments) *.
I concur with the main opinion and note my appreciation of the thorough and scholarly treatment of the problem involved. In supplementation thereof, I make some separate observations.
The first and foundational one is that although the defendant utility is a monopoly, subject to regulation by the Public Service Commission, it is nevertheless a private enterprise, and all aspects of its operation should be left primarily to the judgment of its management; subject secondarily to disapproval or control by the Public Service Commission; and only thirdly, and thus somewhat remotely, to interference with or correction by this Court.
The objectives of the utility include the providing of efficient and economical service to the public; and also the long-range plan of so continuing, and of making a profit for itself and those who supply its capital. This involves consideration of a complexity of factors in the formulation of a rate structure that in the judgment of management will best serve those objectives.
According to my view, it is to be conceded that the differing rates charged to customers should not be fixed on the basis of compelling some rate payers to provide charity for others. However, because of the differences in rendering service to and deriving income from different classes of customers, there is justification for charging different rates to various classes of industrial, commercial and residential users. So long as there is a rational basis for the classification, which the management thinks will help in carrying out the above-stated objectives, and all within the class are treated equally, there is no impermissible discrimination.
As the main opinion suggests, there are a number of factors to which may be given consideration by management in exercising its judgment. This includes that users over 65, who are heads of households, are for the most part, more stable than other users and less apt to be moving about; and that they are therefore to some degree more constant in their patronage, less trouble and expense in billings, and more certain in their payments, resulting in a lower percentage of debt losses. Further, that it may be well to give some recognition to long-time customers, both as a reward to them and as an encouragement to others. This would tend to insure that all of such elderly persons are individual patrons of its service, so that the utility is providing such service to the highest possible percentage of customers in the community. This would serve the purpose of meeting competition with suppliers of other forms of energy, and perhaps of greater importance, of promoting good will for the utility. This is something for which many utilities expend substantial sums.
It also should be stated that the principle of charging lower rates for one class of users as here involved could be overreached to the point of unreasonableness and therefore constitute impermissible discrimination. But as has been observed above, there are the safeguards against such abuses in that the rates are proposed by the utility and are subject to the approval of the Public Service Commission.
Under the standard rule of review of administrative actions, this Court should not invalidate the decisions of management, approved by the Commission, unless it *1060clearly appears that there is no reasonable justification for the differences in rate structure related to the legitimate objectives of successful and continuing operation of the utility.
On the basis of what has been said in the main opinion, and in these comments, I do not believe it is shown that the rate under attack here reaches the point of being so entirely without a basis in reason that it must be deemed capricious and arbitrary and thus subject to invalidation. Because of the involvement of the public interest, both as to the principles generally, and as applied to this case, I agree with the remand for further proceedings.

 CROCKETT, Retired Justice, heard the arguments and acted on this case prior to his retirement.