Texas Central Power Co. v. Jolly

246 S.W. 420
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 5, 1922
DocketNo. 6907.
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 246 S.W. 420 (Texas Central Power Co. v. Jolly) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Texas Central Power Co. v. Jolly, 246 S.W. 420 (Tex. Ct. App. 1922).

Opinion

SMITH, J.

The Texas Central Power Company was chartered under the provisions of section 73, art. 1121, R. S., as amended by the act of 1913 (Gen. Laws, p. 352, § 1 [Vernon’s Sayles’ Ann. Civ. St. 1914, art. 1121]), and is engaged in the manufacture and sale to the public of electric power, which is generated at its plant in Corpus Christi, and conveyed over its power lines from there to other towns in that section. In constructing its power line from the city of Corpus Christi to the town of Bishop, in Nueces county, the company, under the provisions of chapter 21A, tit. 25, Vernon’s Sayles’ Ann, Civ. St. 1914 (Acts 1911, p. 228), procured the condemnation of a right of way over appellee’s ‘land, but, when it sought to ' take possession of the right of way under the ' judgment in condemnation, appellee sought and procured a temporary injunction restraining the company from taking such possession.

The only question presented is whether or not appellant, chartered under section 73, art. 1121, and engaged in the construction and operation of an electric power line between the towns in question, has the right to exercise the power of eminent domain granted in 'chapter 21A. We think the question should be answered in the affirmative, and that the court erred in granting the injunction.

Section 73, art. 1121, as amended, and so far as applicable here, is as follows:

“Private corporations may be created for or after being created may so amend their charters so as to include two or more of the following purposes, namely: The supply of water to the public for irrigation, power, municipal or domestic purposes; the manufacture of and supply of ice to the public; the generation of and supply of gas, electric light and motor power to the public; the manufacture, supply and sale of carbonated water to the public; the operation of cotton seed oil mills and the operation of cotton compresses.”

Articles 1283a, 1283b, 1283c, and 1283d, c. 21A, provide:

“Art. 1283a. That any number of persons, not less than three, may organize themselves into a corporation for the purpose of generating, manufacturing, transporting and selling gas, electric current and power in this state.
“Art. 1283b. The manner and method of organizing such corporations shall be the same as provided by law for the organization of private corporations under chapter 2, title 21,' of the Revised Civil Statutes of the state.
“Art. 1283c. Such corporation shall have the power to generate, make and manufacture, transport and sell gas, electric current and power to individuals, the public and municipalities for light, heat, power and other purposes, and to make reasonable charges therefor; to construct, maintain and operate power plants and substations and such machinery, apparatus, pipes, poles, wires, devices and arrangements as may be necessary to operate such lines at and between different points in this state; to own, hold, and use such-lands, rights of way, easements, franchises, buildings and structures as may be necessary for the purpose of such corporation.”

Art. 1283d. Confers the. power of eminent domain on “such corporation.”

Appellant corporation was chartered under section 73, of article _ 1121, for these purposes:

“(1) The supply of water to the public for irrigation, power, municipal or domestic purposes;
“(2) The manufacture of and supply of ice to^the public:
“'‘(3) The generation of and supply of gas, electric light and motor power to the public.”

It will be observed that article 1283a provides for the organization of corporations for the purposes of “generating, manufacturing, transporting and selling * * * electric current and power, * * * while appellant was incorporated under article 1121 for the purposes of “the generation of and supply of * * * electric light and motor power to the public,” besides the purposes of irrigation and making and selling ice. Ap-pellee contends, in effect, that the purposes of the corporations provided for in the two articles differ; that the right of eminent domain given corporations organized under *421 chapter 21A is by the express terms of that act restricted to the use of the corporations organized thereunder, and cannot by implication be extended to those organized under article 1121. This contention is narrowed to the position that the corporation provided for in article 1121 is limited in its purposes to the manufacture and supply of electric power to the public in particular municipalities, while the purposes of the corporations provided for in article 1283a is for the manufacture and transportatiofi of power from locality to locality in different parts of the state; that one corporation i» purely local, and the other interurban. These contentions are not so simple that they may be disposed of by a mere wave of the hand.

As a practical matter there is no difference between the “generation of and supply of » ⅜ * electric light and motor power to the public,” the purposes expressed in article 1121, and “generating, manufacturing, transporting ánd selling * * * electric current and power,” the purposes expressed in article 1283a. It is a matter of common knowledge, of course, that to “generate” electric current, or power, is to “manufacture” it, and to “manufacture” it is but to “generate” it. For this purpose the terms are convertible, and mean precisely the same thing. Likewise the “supply” of this product “to the public” means, of course, ‘‘selling” it to the public, since by no sort of means does it ever, within our knowledge, approach anything like the nature of „a gift to the public, or the individual members thereof. Appellee stresses the use of the word “transporting,” used in the purpose clause of article 1283a, as being a power not granted in article 1121. But such word is surplusage, and serves no integral purpose, as there used. After current or power is manufactured or generated, it must be “transported” to the consumer, whether the latter be 20 feet or 100 miles away, and the power to manufacture and sell carries with it, as a matter of course, the incidental and essential authority to transport. Town-Site Co. v. Telephone Co., 109 Tex. 452, 212 S. W. 147. So it may well be said that the purposes expressed in the. two articles under consideration are the same, and the powers and duties of the corporations organized under either are likewise the same. This is emphasized in this case by the fact that appellant, although organized under article 1121, is doing the very things appellee says may be done only under article 1283a, without complaint from the state, under whose authority it is acting and which alone has the right to complain. The fact that appellant is authorized under its charter to manufacture ice, and to supply water for irrigation and other purposes, in addition to the purpose discussed, is quite beside .the question, and has nothing to do with the determination of the matter at issue here, since appellant does not seek to condemn appellee’s property for either of those purposes, which the statute, expressly authorizes the corporation to combine in its charter with light and power purposes. Article 1121, subd. 73; Borden v. Trespalacios Co. (Tex. Civ. App.) 82 S. W. 463; Id., 98 Tex. 494, 86 S. W. 11, 107 Am. St. Rep. 640.

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