City of Holton v. Kansas Power & Light Co.

9 P.2d 675, 135 Kan. 58, 1932 Kan. LEXIS 149
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedApril 9, 1932
DocketNo. 30,214; No. 30,215; No. 30,216; No. 30,241
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 9 P.2d 675 (City of Holton v. Kansas Power & Light Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Holton v. Kansas Power & Light Co., 9 P.2d 675, 135 Kan. 58, 1932 Kan. LEXIS 149 (kan 1932).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Burch, J.:

The first of the above-entitled actions was one by the city of Holton against the city of Soldier and the Kansas Power and Light Company, to enjoin breach of a contract between plaintiff and the city of Soldier. Similar cases were commenced by Holton against the cities of Mayetta, Circleville and Havensville, and the Kansas Power and Light Company, to obtain the same relief. The four actions were consolidated for trial, and judgments were rendered for plaintiff. The defendants appealed, and the appeals were heard together. Speaking generally, the legal questions involved are the same in all the cases. Some differences in the facts will be noted.

[60]*60Holton, the county seat of Jackson county, is a city of the second class, and owns and operates an electric light plant. In a northwesterly direction from Holton are Circleville and Soldier, in Jackson county, and Havensville in Pottawatomie county. In February, 1916, Holton entered into contracts with Circleville, Soldier and Havensville to supply those cities and their inhabitants with electricity for periods of twenty years, the contracts, however, to be terminable at the end of ten years. Each contract provided that Holton would supply the current at the Holton plant, and that the purchaser would, in conjunction with others, construct, maintain and keep in repair at its own expense a transmission line from the Holton plant to the purchasing city. The transmission line was built, and Holton furnished current to the purchasing cities, which provided their own distribution systems. The contracts were not terminated at the end of ten years.

South of Holton is Mayetta. In March, 1923, Holton contracted to supply electric current at its plant to Mayetta for ten years, and thereafter unless notice of discontinuance were given. Mayetta agreed to construct, maintain and keep in repair at its own expense the transmission line. The transmission line was constructed, Mayetta provided its own distribution system, and current was furnished by Holton pursuant to the contract.

In April, May, October and December, 1928, the Kansas Power and Light Company purchased the transmission lines, and purchased the distributing systems within the various cities. The contracts were approved by the public service commission on the following dates: Circleville, June 7, 1928; Soldier, June 18, 1928; Mayetta, November 13,1928; Havensville, January 18,1929. Franchises were duly granted by the cities to the Kansas Power and Light Company to supply the cities and their inhabitants with electric current. The purchaser took possession of the transmission lines and distributing systems, and has been supplying the cities and their inhabitants with electric current produced at Holton.

The contract between Holton and the purchasing cities provided for installation by Holton of recording meters to measure the current supplied, for monthly meter readings, for verified monthly statements showing the current delivered during the preceding month, and for payment by the cities on the 15th of each month of a price per kilowatt for current delivered. After the Kansas Power and Light Company purchased the transmission lines and distribut[61]*61ing systems, and without any negotiation or arrangement between Holton and the Kansas Power and Light Company, Holton sent its bills to the Kansas Power and Light Company, instead of to the cities, and the Kansas Power and Light Company paid the bills.

The Kansas Power and Light Company has a plant for the. production of electric current just outside the city of Topeka, in Shawnee county, and, previous to purchase of the transmission lines referred to, had a transmission line of its own to Hoyt, in Jackson county, south of Mayetta. After purchase of the transmission lines, the Kansas Power and Light Company reconstructed its own line from Topeka to Hoyt to carry a high voltage, and constructed a high-voltage line from Hoyt to Mayetta, but did not connect it. As indicated, the Kansas Power and Light Company purchased the line from Mayetta to Holton. Beginning two miles south of Holton, the engineers of the Kansas Power and Light Company surveyed a route extending two miles west and then due north to the purchased Circleville line, and on this route constructed about five miles of transmission line. Onaga, a city of the third class, lies south and west of Havensville, and the Kansas Power and Light Company constructed a line from Havensville to Onaga, but did not connect it. The ultimate purpose is to have a high-voltage line from Topeka to Onaga and beyond, passing through Hoyt and Mayetta, passing west of Holton, and passing through Circleville, Soldier and Havensville.

In November, 1929, Holton commenced an action against Circle-ville and the Kansas Power and Light Company, to enjoin breach of the contract between Holton and Circleville,^ expiring in 1936, and commenced an action against Mayetta and the Kansas Power and Light Company to enjoin breach of the contract between Holton and Mayetta, expiring in 1933. In October, 1930, Holton commenced actions against Soldier and Havensville and the Kansas Power and Light Company, to enjoin breach of the Soldier and Havensville contracts, expiring in 1936. The actions were tried in November, 1930, and judgments were rendered on December 1,1930. The court made no findings of fact, but found generally all issues in favor of plaintiff.

The petition in each case alleged that on Holton’s entering into the contract with the purchasing city, it was necessary for Holton to invest large sums of money in machinery and equipment to fulfill the conditions of the contract. The superintendent of the water [62]*62and light department of Holton testified the Holton plant had been so constructed as to provide capacity to supply the outside cities. The date when construction commenced was not given, and every city contract recited that Holton “owns and operates an electric light, and power plant in the city of Holton.” The Mayetta contract was not made until seven years after the others were made. The superintendent did not testify that capacity of plant or amount of expenditure was determined with reference to any previously incurred obligation to supply any outside city, and so far as the evidence disclosed, Holton merely improved opportunity to preempt an unoccupied field, and constructed a plant having sufficient capacity to enable it to do so.

The petition in each case alleged that the Kansas Power and Light Company assumed performance of the contract between Holton and the defendant city. The proceedings at the trial disclosed an express contract of assumption was meant. The answers denied that the Kansas Power and Light Company assumed performance of the Holton contracts.

There was evidence that the agent of the Kansas Power and Light Company who negotiated with Soldier made oral statements that the Kansas Power and Light Company would assume Soldier’s contract with Holton, and made such statements both before and after the contract was signed. The contract of purchase contained no assumption. Soldier was represented by an attorney whose conduct indicated he knew that no contract to assume the obligations of the Holton contract could be enforced unless in writing, because of the ■statute of frauds, and knew that part performance would not save an oral contract to assume. When the contract between Soldier and the Kansas Power and Light Company was signed, he raised the question of assumption of the Holton contract.

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Bluebook (online)
9 P.2d 675, 135 Kan. 58, 1932 Kan. LEXIS 149, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-holton-v-kansas-power-light-co-kan-1932.