Appeal of Concord Natural Gas Corp.

433 A.2d 1291, 121 N.H. 685
CourtSupreme Court of New Hampshire
DecidedAugust 5, 1981
DocketNo. 80-502
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 433 A.2d 1291 (Appeal of Concord Natural Gas Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Appeal of Concord Natural Gas Corp., 433 A.2d 1291, 121 N.H. 685 (N.H. 1981).

Opinion

Douglas, J.

The plaintiff gas utility companies challenge the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission’s (PUC) promulgation of rules precluding electric and gas utilities from including the cost of certain political, promotional, and institutional advertising and activities in operating expenses. We uphold the rules.

In June 1978, as part of an effort to formulate a national energy policy, Congress enacted the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, PUB. L. No. 95-617, 92 Stat. 3117 (1978) (hereinafter “PURPA”). Title I of the act established retail regulatory policies for electric utilities; Title III established such policies for natural gas utilities. The stated purposes of both titles were to encourage energy conservation, to encourage utilities to use peak efficiency of facilities and resources, and to provide equitable utility rates to consumers. PURPA §§ 101; 301. To effect those ends, PURPA established standards for advertising by electric and gas utilities. PURPA §§ 113(b)(5); 303(b)(2). The act further required State regulatory agencies to conduct hearings on those standards within two years of PURPA’s enactment. PURPA §§ 113(a); 303(a). On the basis of those hearings, State regulatory agencies were to adopt those standards “to the extent . . . [that each agency]'determines that such adoption is appropriate to carry out the purposes of this title, is otherwise appropriate, and is consistent with otherwise applicable State law____” PURPA §§ 113(a)(1); 303(a)(2).

On March 27, 1979, New Hampshire’s PUC acknowledged the requirements of PURPA and ordered regulated gas and electric utilities to submit testimony and evidence to the commission to enable it to determine whether to adopt PURPA’s advertising standards. On August 15, 1980, the PUC issued proposed rules pertaining to the promotional, political, and institutional advertising and activities of gas and electric utilities. On that same date, the PUC provided public notice of the proposed rules, establishing September 19, 1980, as the closing date for written comments and October 8, 1980, as the public hearing date. The plaintiff gas companies submitted written comments to the PUC and participated in the public hearing.

On October 17, 1980, the PUC adopted the rules at issue in this case, entitled “Rules relative to utility advertising for gas and electric utilities,” to be effective November 20, 1980. In accordance with RSA 541-A:4 (Supp. 1979), the PUC filed copies of the rules with the director of legislative services. On November 17, 1980, the plaintiffs filed with the PUC a motion for rehearing, which the [689]*689commission denied on December 24, 1980. Pursuant to RSA 541:6, they appeal from the PUC’s order adopting the rules relating to advertising by utilities and from the PUC’s denial of their motion for rehearing.

The first issue we must address is whether the PUC had the authority to adopt the rules in question. Because the PUC’s rules apply to all gas utilities and to certain types of activities including advertising, the companies argue that, in adopting the rules, the PUC exceeded the mandate of PURPA, which applies only to gas companies with more than ten billion cubic feet of sales in any calendar year since 1975, PURPA § 301(b), and which applies only to advertising. PURPA § 303(b)(2). The State argues that the PUC adopted the rules pursuant to authority granted under New Hampshire law, which is separate and distinct from the commands of PURPA, and that the agency therefore was not limited to the PURPA requirements. We agree with the State.

An administrative agency must act within its delegated powers. Kimball v. N.H. Bd. of Accountancy, 118 N.H. 567, 568, 391 A.2d 888, 889 (1978). When the legislature so authorizes, an agency may properly promulgate rules. Reno v. Hopkinton, 115 N.H. 706, 707, 349 A.2d 585, 586 (1975). The companies argue that the PUC had no authority to establish rules. In particular, they argue that the ratemaking authority conferred upon the PUC by RSA ch. 378 (“Rates and Charges”) does not give the PUC rule-making power. We need not address that argument, however, because the PUC adopted its utility advertising rules under authority of RSA 374:2 and :3 to amend the uniform system of accounts for gas and electric utilities. Accordingly, our inquiry must be whether the PUC had authority to promulgate rules under RSA 374:2 or :3.

RSA 374:3 expressly granted to the PUC incidental authority “to carry into effect the provisions” of RSA ch. 374. In RSA 374:8, the legislature empowered the PUC to “establish a system of accounts and records to be used by public utilities for their business within this state . . . .” (Emphasis added.) An order prescribing a uniform system of accounts falls within the statutory definition of a “rule,” which is a “regulation, standard or other statement of general applicability adopted by an agency. . . ,” RSA 541-A:1 (Supp. 1979). Consequently, rulemaking authority may be implied from the express grant of authority in RSA 374:3 necessary to prescribe a uniform system of accounts. See 1 Am. Jur. 2d Administrative Law § 97 (1962). We therefore conclude [690]*690that the PUC had authority to promulgate the rule in question under RSA 374:3 and :8.

We also conclude that the advertising rules are within the scope of the statutory authority of RSA 374:3 and :8. Although the rules prohibiting utilities from charging the costs of certain advertising and activities to operating expenses may indirectly affect rates, they are not directly related to utility rate structures and therefore cannot be considered ratemaking. See H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 95-1750, 95th Cong., 2d Sess. 75, reprinted in [1978] U.S. Code Cong. & Ad. News 7797, 7809.

Because the rules were adopted under State law, the PUC was not required to adhere strictly to PURPA’s requirements. In fact, PURPA itself does not mandate such conformity. The legislative history of PURPA explains that State agencies were given broad discretion to adopt the advertising standards, and were free to reject the standards entirely as long as the purposes of the act were carried out. H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 95-1750, 95th Cong., 2d Sess. 75, reprinted in [1978] U.S. Code Cong. & Ad. News at 7809. Although the companies argue that the imposition of PURPA’s standards on small gas companies will frustrate the goals of the act to foster energy conservation and equitable rates to consumers, the PUC found the opposite to be true. That finding is supported by the record. Advertising increases gas consumption and a witness for Manchester Gas Co. testified that, because of the way gas is stored and marketed, the cost of gas increases as more gas is sold. Thus, the PUC rules are consistent with PURPA’s requirements because with less advertising more gas will be conserved and with lower consumption of gas the cost to consumers will apparently be lower.

We next consider the companies’ procedural arguments. First, they argue that the PUC’s failure to act upon their motion for rehearing within the ten-day period prescribed by RSA 541:5 was prejudicial and an abuse of discretion. The State admits that the PUC did not act upon the motion within ten days but asserts that the provisions of that statute are directory not mandatory. We reject the State’s argument. RSA 541:5 provides:

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433 A.2d 1291, 121 N.H. 685, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/appeal-of-concord-natural-gas-corp-nh-1981.