Court Opinion

ID: 9774272
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 18:13:42.714147+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:04.997824
License: Public Domain

SAM D. JOHNSON, Justice,
dissenting.
This dissent is respectfully submitted.
This writer dissents from that part of the majority opinion which holds that the blanket exclusion of all land held for future use does not amount to confiscation under this record. While acknowledging that the exclusion is error in calculating the rate base of a utility, the majority apparently agrees with the district court’s conclusion that the value of the land is so “infinitesimal” that it cannot amount to confiscation.
The record shows that the value of the land held for future use is approximately $1,136,000. This court held in General Telephone Company v. City of Wellington, 156 Tex. 238, 294 S.W.2d 385 (1956), that “confiscation” and “unreasonable inadequacy” of rates are identical for purposes of constitutional protection. This writer cannot agree that because $1,136,000 is only a small fraction of the Telephone Company’s $3,000,000,000 rate base it is an “infinitesimal” amount or that its exclusion will result in an insignificant reduction of the rates to be collected by the Telephone Company.
This writer agrees with the court of civil appeals that no determination can be made as to whether any part of the land should be included in the rate base until a determination as to usefulness of each parcel of land is made. The trial court should be instructed to require the Commission to make these additional findings after considering the evidence in the Commission’s record as to each parcel of land. Such action is authorized by Section 19(d)(1) of the Administrative Procedure Act which provides that “[t]he court may require or permit subsequent corrections or additions to the record.”