Home/Wisconsin Supreme Court/City of Milwaukee v. Public Service Commission

City of Milwaukee v. Public Service Commission

66 N.W.2d 716, 268 Wis. 116, 1954 Wisc. LEXIS 426
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 9, 1954
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 66 N.W.2d 716 (City of Milwaukee v. Public Service Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Milwaukee v. Public Service Commission, 66 N.W.2d 716, 268 Wis. 116, 1954 Wisc. LEXIS 426 (Wis. 1954).

Opinion

Martin, J.

Appellant challenges the jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission to make the order here in question.

The water system of the city of Milwaukee is a public utility subject to regulation as is any other public utility, Pabst Corp. v. Milwaukee (1926), 190 Wis. 349, 208 N. W. 493; Flottum v. Cumberland (1940), 234 Wis. 654, 291 N. W. 777; and it is well established that in maintaining and operating such system the city is acting in its proprietary capacity, Milwaukee E. R. & L. Co. v. Milwaukee (1932), 209 Wis. 656, 245 N. W. 856; De Pere v. Public Service Comm. (1954), 266 Wis. 319, 63 N. W. (2d) 764.

Every public utility has the obligation, within the scope of its undertaking, to furnish its service to all who reasonably require it. Northern States P. Co. v. Public Service Comm. (1944), 246 Wis. 215, 16 N. W. (2d) 790; Lodi Telephone Co. v. Public Service Comm. (1952, 1953), 262 Wis. 416, 55 N. W. (2d) 379, 57 N. W. (2d) 700; 43 Am. Jur., Public Utilities and Services, p. 586, sec. 22. The duty to enforce such obligation is imposed upon the Public Service Commission. Sec. 196.37 (2), Stats. In the case of a municipal utility that jurisdiction is not limited to the boundaries of the municipality but extends to all areas where the utility has undertaken to serve. Milwaukee v. Public Service Comm. (1942), 241 Wis. 249, 5 N. W. (2d) 800; Milwaukee v. Public Service Comm. (1948), 252 Wis. 358, 31 N. W. (2d) 571.

The basic question here is whether appellant has extended its service and is holding itself out to serve in the general area within the city of Glendale in which the General Motors building is located. This is a question of fact, and the commission found:

“3. That at all times since the filing of this application herein, the premises occupied by the applicant have been lo-

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Bluebook (online)
66 N.W.2d 716, 268 Wis. 116, 1954 Wisc. LEXIS 426, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-milwaukee-v-public-service-commission-wis-1954.