Court Opinion

ID: 9734266
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 17:30:14.52386+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:47.465011
License: Public Domain

NIX, Justice,
dissenting.
We are, here again, faced with the question of the allocation of jurisdiction to hear and determine controversies arising between a utility and persons who are injured and sustain loss as a result of alleged tortious conduct of the utility in the performance of its service. Traditionally, the determination of whether conduct is negligent, thus exposing to liability the actor for injury or loss sustained as a consequence, has been a judicial judgment. Thus, in absence of a legislative mandate providing for an alternative forum for the resolution of these types of disputes, jurisdiction over the controversy resides in the courts.
*138We have previously considered and decided that the Public Utility Law, Act of May 28, 1937, P.L. 1053, art. I, § 1 et seq., 66 P.S. § 1101 et seq.; now 66 Pa.C.S.A. § 101 et seq., did not divest the Courts of Common Pleas of their original jurisdiction to entertain suits for damages against public utilities caused by the performance of their services in a negligent manner. Feingold v. Bell of Penna., 477 Pa. 1, 383 A.2d 791 (1977). To the contrary, we stated “It is clear that the remedial and enforcement powers vested in the P.U.C. by the Public Utility Law were designed to allow the P.U.C. to enforce its orders and regulations but not to empower the P.U.C. to award damages or litigate a private action for damages on behalf of a complainant.” Feingold v. Bell of Penna., supra, 477 Pa. at 10, 383 A.2d at 795 (footnote omitted). This separation of responsibility over distinctly different areas of concern has apparently been missed by the majority and their endorsement of a “referral procedure” is not only without legal jurisdiction, it is also inherently unsound. I therefore dissent.
The confusion appears to arise from the fact that the P.U.C. is charged with the duty to regulate the service of the utilities and to insure the adequacy, efficiency, safety and reasonableness of those services. It is argued that this obligation is somehow called into play where an assertion of negligence in the performance of the service has caused injury to a particular plaintiff who seeks redress for that loss. It is urged that the expertise of the P.U.C.1 and the need to maintain uniformity requires the intervention of the *139administrative body. In my judgment this line of reasoning is fallacious.
The distinction between the role of the court and the P.U.C. was captured by the Superior Court when it stated:
The courts retain jurisdiction of a suit for damages based on negligence or breach of contract wherein a utility’s performance of its legally imposed and contractually adopted obligations are examined and applied to a given set of facts. Behrend v. Bell Telephone Co., 242 Pa.Super. 47, 59, 363 A.2d 1152, 1158 (1976) vacated and remanded on other grounds, 473 Pa. 320, 374 A.2d 536 (1977).
Where the standard of care that governs the conduct in question has been articulated by a P.U.C. regulation or standard, the situation is no different from instances where statutes provide the standard, and the rules of evidence governing the admission and the effect of the pertinent statute should be equally applicable to a germane P.U.C. regulation or standard. Where the P.U.C. has not prescribed a standard for the service in the area in question, then an appropriate standard may be established by expert testimony as is traditionally done in matters of this nature.
The problems in this area are no more complex than many others which come before the court and are resolved in this fashion. Nor can it be argued that such a procedure would destroy uniformity. If there were no standard at the time, the court’s determination of a standard would not conflict with any regulation or standard of the P.U.C. Thereafter, if the P.U.C. deems that a regulation is necessary, the court’s ruling would not foreclose the P.U.C. from promulgation of a standard to govern future acts in the area. It is, therefore, my view that the novel and unique referral procedure initiated by the trial court and endorsed by the majority is entirely unnecessary for the proper resolution of the questions raised.
It is black letter law that a statutorily created agency or commission possesses only the jurisdiction conferred upon it by the creating legislative body. Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission v. Mars Community Boys Baseball As*140soc., 488 Pa. 102, 410 A.2d 1246 (Opinion in Support of Affirmance); Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission v. St. Joe Minerals Corp., 476 Pa. 302, 382 A.2d 731 (1978); Green v. Milk Control Comm’n., 340 Pa. 1, 16 A.2d 9 (1940). There is absolutely no statutory authority for the referral procedure. The authority relied upon by the trial judge, and apparently approved by the majority for the initiation of the P.U.C.’s jurisdiction in this case, was § 412 of the Public Utility Law, Act of May 28, 1937, P.L. 1053, art. IV, § 412, 66 P.S. § 1182, now 66 Pa.C.S.A. § 1504. This section provides that, “The Commission may, after reasonable notice and hearing, upon its own motion or upon complaint, prescribe as to service and facilities, . . ., just and reasonable standards.. . . ” (Emphasis added). Neither this section nor any other provision of the Public Utility Law requires the P.U.C. to serve as an adjunct to the court system.
Section 412 provides for the initiation of the process whereby the agency promulgates regulations and standards. The initiation of that process is only helpful in those instances where the P.U.C. had not previously promulgated regulations or standards for the conduct in question. For obviously, no purpose would be served by seeking promulgation of that which is already in existence. We note further that this section does not place upon the P.U.C. any responsibility to further explicate existing regulations.
Even in a situation where there is a vacuity of standards, I do not believe that the section relied upon is helpful for it creates a procedure so cumbersome as to be unsound.2 The provision encompasses notice and hearing, and an appeal from the ultimate determination of the Commission to the Commonwealth Court.3 By embracing the entire adminis*141trative process, the referral system contains an inordinate delay factor which is intolerable.4
It must also be noted that since Section 412 permits the triggering of this administrative process by complaint, the court would be put in the unique and questionable position of filing a complaint before an administrative tribunal on behalf of one or more of the litigants before it. Such a posture is obviously at odds with the objective rule that a court is expected to maintain.
In summary, it is my view that the decision today acknowledges a procedure which is not only unnecessary for the resolution of the matters before the Court, but also is totally without statutory warrant. The majority has further exacerbated the situation by creating a procedural device which is cumbersome and will unduly delay the disposition of claims of this nature.5
I would, therefore, remand to the Court of Common Pleas and require that this negligence suit be disposed of in the traditional manner.

. Even if the statutory scheme had provided for concurrent jurisdiction between the court and the administrative body, the question of the allocation of the jurisdiction should not be.decided solely upon a belief that expertise is dispositive. “[Tjhe difficulty with expertise as a test for the applicability of rules, ... is that it is a compass with an unvarying needle. Turn it whichever way, in whatever situation, it invariably points to primary jurisdiction” in the agency, Convisser Primary Jurisdiction: The Rule and Its Rationalizations, 65 Yale L.J. 315, 330 (1956).
It is to be emphasized that there is no question in this case of concurrent jurisdiction. As I read the statute, the legislature has withheld the power to the P.U.C. to award damages in this area. Thus, we are not faced with a question of primary jurisdiction.

. Additionally, the referral procedure embraced by the majority defeats the effectiveness of the P.U.C. The effect of the majority’s action is to place an entirely new area of responsibility upon that administrative body which was not envisioned by the General Assembly and thereby intrudes upon the time it may allocate to its statutorily prescribed duties.

. The right to petition this Court for review from the Commonwealth Court ruling is also available to either party. 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 724(a).

. It is conceivable that a referral procedure could be designed which is separate and apart from the normal administrative process and which would permit the Commission to respond directly to the court’s inquiries in the matter. Such a procedure has not been provided for under the current Public Utility Law and is obviously something that must be legislatively, and not judicially, mandated.

. The procedure approved in this case goes much farther than allowing the P.U.C. to define the standard. Without explanation, the P.U.C. determined a standard which was never articulated for the benefit of the litigants, and then proceeded to determine that it was not violated in this instance. I suggest that while the majority gives lip service to recognizing the court’s role in resolving this controversy, it makes that role illusory by the judgment it reached. One also must wonder what happened to plaintiffs right of trial by jury in this case.