Monochem, Inc. v. Louisiana Public Service Commission

172 So. 2d 670, 247 La. 532, 1965 La. LEXIS 2371
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedFebruary 23, 1965
DocketNo. 47509
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 172 So. 2d 670 (Monochem, Inc. v. Louisiana Public Service Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Monochem, Inc. v. Louisiana Public Service Commission, 172 So. 2d 670, 247 La. 532, 1965 La. LEXIS 2371 (La. 1965).

Opinions

HAMLIN, Justice.

The Louisiana Public Service Commission (hereinafter referred to as the Commission) and East Ascension Telephone Company, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as East Ascension) appeal to this Court from a judgment of the trial court which ordered and decreed that Order No. 9085 of the Commission be vacated, annulled, and set aside, and that the instant application of East Ascension to the Commission be rejected and denied with prejudice.

The following excerpts from the trial court’s Reasons for Judgment set forth pertinent facts required for a decision in this case:

“Before 1961 East Ascension Telephone Company served a strictly rural community. In that year great industrial plants were established along the Mississippi River in that area. Extensive use of the telephone was essential to efficient operation of such businesses. It is shown that one of the plaintiffs herein made and received an average of 171 calls per day to and from Baton Rouge. * * * The long distance toll for ordinary use of the telephone between that area and Baton Rouge amounts to about fifty cents. In order to obviate this expense to some extent on calls to and from Baton Rouge plaintiffs arranged to have direct lines installed to con[536]*536nect with the Southern Bell Baton Rouge exchange to enable calls to be made to and fx-om Baton Rouge without the necessity of going through the East Ascension exchange at Gonzales. These direct lines were known as ‘foreign exchange service.’ It is assumed that these plaintiffs also had telephone lines from their plants to the local exchange of East Ascension in Gonzales.
“The East Ascension Telephone Company entered into a contract with United Engineers and Constructors, Inc., called subscribers,1 which was the agent of Monochem, Inc., one of the plaintiffs herein and acting for and on behalf of all three plaintiffs, whereby the East Ascension agreed to furnish and install direct lines from said plaintiffs’ plants to connect with the lines of Southern Bell leading into Baton Rouge and to furnish and install the necessary equipment in connection therewith. Calls over these direct lines did not go through the East Ascension exchange at Gonzales. The contract provides that the subscriber would pay East Ascension the rates for the use of such lines and equipment in an amount set forth in the East Ascension’s tariff approved by the Public Service Commission. Mr. Banker, President and Manager of East Ascension, testified that in the arrangement the subscriber would pay to East Ascension $27 per line per month which he said was sufficient [538]*538revenue return on the investment to justify the installation and use of the direct lines and equipment.2 * * * ”

Sometime after the contract, supra, was executed, East Ascension filed with the Commission an amendment to its tariff charges. This amendment provided for a foreign exchange charge of $100.00 per circuit per month for an interconnection between the East Ascension exchange and an exchange of another company, whereby the subscriber could dial any subscriber in [540]*540the exchange of the other company without a toll charge. The tariff was accepted for filing on June 12, 1963, subject to satisfactory arrangements being made with subscribers then enjoying foreign exchange service.3 Customers were notified that effective August 1, 1963, there would be an inter-exchange charge of $100.00 per circuit for all foreign exchange service; the notification explained that the adjustment, the result of a toll study, was required so as to compensate East Ascension for revenue losses due to foreign exchange service.

Protests to the increase were filed by practically all of the foreign exchange customers. The matter was docketed by the Commission for hearing and was tried at a regular session of the Commission on August 12, 1963. On August 14, 1963, the Commission ordered an accounting investigation to determine applicant’s present rate of return and to obtain such information as was possible concerning its loss of revenue in toll calls by affording foreign exchange service. Order No. 9085 sets forth in part that:

“The accounting staff found that the only way to determine the amount of toll revenue losses is to meter the customer’s calls for a period of time, and make estimates as nearly accurate as possible to determine how many of such calls would result in toll revenues if the subscriber had ordinanry service without the foreign exchange feature.
“Tests as above-described were made by the company for two of the larger customers, namely Monochem, Inc. and U. S. Rubber Company. The test for Monochem, Inc. showed that for a period of five days there were 1,318 calls on three circuits. Of these, it was estimated that one-half were outgoing calls and the total of such calls per day were determined to be 132 for the three circuits, or forty-four per circuit. East Ascension received a toll settlement from the Bell Company in accordance with its contract, amounting to 34^ per toll message. This settlement did not apply to the foreign exchange calls because they were not toll calls. Forty-four calls at 34{i per call would amount to $14.96 per day per circuit. On a thirty-day basis, the revenue per circuit for a thirty-day period would amount to $448.80 (30 x $14.96). Another similar test of the same customer for a twenty-three day period showed that the revenue per circuit on a monthly basis would amount to $226.60 for East Ascension’s share of settlement with the Bell Company, averaged at 35.5^ [542]*542per message, if the customer subscribed to service on a toll call basis instead of foreign exchange.
“A test of calls by U. S. Rubber Company, another foreign exchange customer, on a forty-eight hour basis resulted in average revenue per month of $448.80, or exactly the same amount as one of the Monochem tests.
“The maximum amount that East Ascension received from the above companies per month per circuit was $27.00, depending on mileage.”

The Commission stated that it was obvious that East Ascension was entitled to compensation for its loss in tolls caused by the subscriber having foreign exchange service; it found that it was extremely difficult to arrive at the proper level for such compensation; it concluded that East Ascension’s charge for foreign exchange service, including full time talking circuits into the exchange area of another company, should be fixed at $75.00 per circuit per month. The Commission stated:

“The Commission’s staff reported further that if the eleven present subscribers who indicated that they would give up foreign exchange service if the proposal herein is granted actually did so, and the rate on the remaining customers were fixed at $100 per month as requested, applicant’s revenue would be augmented by $9,149.00 annually. (This figure, of course, is not precise since the tolls that would be paid by these eleven customers must be estimated.) The present net operating revenues, before this proposed change, indicate a return of 3.45% on the net plant investment, and after the proposed change (minus the eleven customers) it is estimated that the rate of return would be 3.73%.

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Related

Kansas City Southern Railway Co. v. Louisiana Public Service Commission
223 So. 2d 132 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1969)
Kansas City South. Ry. Co. v. Louisiana Pub. Serv. Comm.
223 So. 2d 132 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1969)
Monochem, Inc. v. Louisiana Public Service Commission
221 So. 2d 504 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1969)
Monochem, Inc. v. East Ascension Telephone Co.
195 So. 2d 748 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1967)

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Bluebook (online)
172 So. 2d 670, 247 La. 532, 1965 La. LEXIS 2371, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/monochem-inc-v-louisiana-public-service-commission-la-1965.