Texas Ass'n of Long Distance Telephone Companies v. Public Utility Commission of Texas

798 S.W.2d 875, 1990 Tex. App. LEXIS 2725, 1990 WL 176333

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: November 14, 1990
• Docket: 3-89-225-CV
• Status: Published

Opinions

ON MOTION FOR REHEARING

JONES, Justice.

The opinion issued by this Court on September 19, 1990, is withdrawn, and the following is filed in lieu thereof.

The Texas Association of Long Distance Telephone Companies (“TEXALTEL”) appeals from a judgment of the district court affirming an order of the appellee, Public Utility Commission (“PUC”). The PUC’s order increased the rates for services provided by AT & T Communications of the Southwest (“AT & T”), including wide area telecommunications service (“WATS”). We will affirm the judgment of the district court.

Docket No. 6095 was initiated in January 1985 in response to AT & T’s application to increase its rates, including WATS rates, by $123.4 million. The application was amended on April 4, 1985, to request a rate increase of $139 million. Pursuant to § 43(d) of the Public Utilities Regulatory Act (PURA), Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 1446c (Supp.1990), the PUC subsequently suspended AT & T’s proposed rates. As a result of pending hearings, the suspension period was extended through October 23, 1985, and thereafter AT & T voluntarily extended the suspension period until March 2, 1986.

On February 7, 1986, the PUC ordered a rate increase totalling $55.1 million. As part of this rate increase, the PUC’s order directed AT & T to increase overall WATS rates approximately 33 percent over then-existing rates. While recognizing that this rate increase would not be sufficient even to enable AT & T to recoup all of its costs associated with its WATS service, the PUC determined that, in order to avoid severe customer impact, no individual customer should receive a rate increase of more than 145 percent. The PUC ordered AT & T to file revised tariffs within twenty days, to be effective twenty days after filing or sooner upon approval by the PUC staff.

On February 10, 1986, AT & T filed proposed tariffs, including a WATS tariff. The proposed WATS tariff was rejected by the PUC’s Hearings Division on March 1. On March 5, AT & T filed another proposed WATS tariff. On March 11, the PUC issued an order ruling on motions for rehearing and amending its February 7 order. Among other things, the March 11 order stated that AT & T could apply any WATS tariff approved by the staff on or after March 27 and prior to April 27 to service provided on or after April 1. On March 25, the staff of the Hearings Division rejected AT & T’s second proposed WATS tariff, whereupon AT & T filed with the PUC an emergency petition seeking approval of the proposed WATS tariff that had been filed on March 5; the petition also requested the PUC to consider motions for rehearing filed in response to the March 11 order. On April 9, the PUC met to consider AT & T’s petition. That same day, following the hearing, the PUC issued an order which, in addition to granting a rehearing on the accuracy of certain numbers on which the level of AT & T’s new rates had been based in the February 7 order,, also directed that AT & T’s WATS tariff be approved effective April 1, 1986.

The PUC later issued yet another order on July 28 in which it found that the February 7 order contained a $16,477 overstatement, but that the error had no effect on the rate design or the approved tariffs. The February 7 order became appealable on November 7, 1986, when all motions for rehearing were overruled.

TEXALTEL and numerous other parties to the PUC proceedings, including AT & T and the State Purchasing and General Services Commission (“SPGSC”), filed separate suits in the district court of Travis County seeking judicial review of the PUC’s action. The relevant petitions named only the PUC as defendant. All such suits were eventually consolidated into a single cause. Shortly before the scheduled trial, all parties except TEXAL-TEL settled with the PUC. TEXALTEL’s claim then proceeded to trial, following which the trial court rendered a final judgment ordering that (1) pursuant to the parties’ settlement agreement, all claims other than those of TEXALTEL be dismissed; and (2) TEXALTEL take nothing.