Western Power & Gas Co. v. Southest Colorado Power Ass'n

435 P.2d 219, 164 Colo. 344, 1967 Colo. LEXIS 803
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedDecember 11, 1967
Docket21985
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 435 P.2d 219 (Western Power & Gas Co. v. Southest Colorado Power Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Western Power & Gas Co. v. Southest Colorado Power Ass'n, 435 P.2d 219, 164 Colo. 344, 1967 Colo. LEXIS 803 (Colo. 1967).

Opinions

Mr. Chief Justice Moore

delivered the opinion of the Court.

The parties will be referred to as follows: Western Power and Gas Company as Western, the other plaintiffs in error as the Commission, and the defendant in error as Southeast.

The controversy involves a dispute between Western and Southeast concerning the right to supply electrical energy to a microwave relay station which had been installed by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company in Otero county on real estate at a location which we will identify as Section 3 — the full legal description being immaterial to any issue in this case. The action originated before the Commission upon the filing of a complaint by Southeast in which it alleged that it was a public utility supplying electrical energy in Otero county in the area identified as Section 3, and that Western planned and intended to expand and extend its power lines and facilities into Section 3 in order to serve the relay station above mentioned. Southeast further alleged that such an expansion of facilities by Western would be without a certificate of conven[347]*347ience and necessity; that the extension contemplated would not be “contiguous” to Western’s existing power lines; and that it would amount to an invasion by Western of territory being adequately served by Southeast— all in violation of the applicable sections of the law governing the activities of those functioning as public utilities, particularly C.R.S. 1963, 115-5-1. These allegations were denied by Western and it asserted the right to serve the station under a certificate of convenience and necessity issued to it on September 21, 1936, under which it was granted the right, and imposed with the duty, to serve the rural areas of Otero county, and to make such extensions as might be necessary and practicable for the purpose of serving future requirements of the inhabitants.

Following a full hearing the Commission entered its final decision in favor of Western. It is disclosed by the record before the Commission that one of its members dissented. The decision was authorized by Commissioner Zarlengo. Commissioner Horton stated his views as follows:

“I concur in the finding that Western Power and Gas Company have the authority from the Commission to supply electric service to American Telephone and Telegraph Company. However, I did not arrive at that conclusion by the same method as Chairman Zarlengo but I do concur with the end result.”

On review of this decision the district court reversed the Commission and ordered entry of a decision sustaining the position of Southeast.

Western is here on writ of error seeking reversal of the judgment of the district court with directions to enter judgment sustaining the decision of the Commission.

The following historical background is essential to an understanding of the legal issue before us. Western and its subsidiaries had been in the business of generating and distributing electrical energy and power to the public for approximately sixty-five years. It ■ fur[348]*348nished electrical service to the inhabitants of Otero county during all that time. It held franchises to serve in various towns, and from the creation of the Public Utilities Commission it had been the recipient of various certificates of convenience and necessity granting to it the right to render such service as well as imposing upon it the duty to serve such communities and areas contiguous thereto. In 1936 it was granted a certificate of public convenience and necessity to serve the rural inhabitants and areas of Otero county by Public Utilities Commission Decision No. 8397. There was no evidence that it ever failed or refused to render that service.

On the other hand Southeast Colorado Power Association Inc. was organized as a cooperative association and for many years served only its own members. As far as the record shows it had never sought, nor did it hold, any certificates of public convenience and necessity from the Commission. The status of Southeast as a public utility was first established by act of the legislature in 1961. It was admitted in the record that Southeast does not have a certificate to serve the public in the specific area involved, and the record is undisputed that Western Power is the holder of a certificate authorizing it to serve the rural areas of Otero county.

In order to serve its members Southeast in 1952 constructed a single phase line in a southerly direction from the city of La Junta. This line runs through Section 3 where the American' Telephone and Telegraph Company microwave relay station was to be constructed — which is now completed and is presently receiving “three-phase” service under a contract with Western. Both Western and Southeast have “three-phase” power lines extending eastward from La Junta for several miles but no such line of either company was closer than approximately eight to ten miles of Section 3. Southeast’s “single-pháse” line into Section 3 was suitable to supply electrical requirements for ordinary household and small' motor uses. “Three-phase” [349]*349service was required for the operation of the microwave relay station.

During 1963, the parties were advised by American Telephone and Telegraph Company that it intended to install a microwave relay station alongside Southeast’s line, approximately ten miles south of the “three-phase” lines of Western Power and Southeast located east of La Junta; and that this relay station would require “three-phase” electric service. It inquired of both parties what the cost of this electric service would be, assuming a given volume of use and a given type of regularity of volume use year-round (or, load factor). Both parties are subject to PUC rate regulation; both gave quotations.

Southeast filed this action before the Commission on January 21, 1964, while negotiations were pending between the two utilities and American Telephone and Telegraph Co. Two weeks thereafter Western and American Telephone and Telegraph Company entered into a contract in which Western agreed to supply “three-phase” power at the site of the relay station.

As already stated, two commissioners determined that Western had the right to supply the electrical requirements of the station. The decision went further, however, and the order of the Commission included the following:

“That the Complainant be, and it hereby is, ordered to allow Respondent to immediately make use of so much of its poles and facilities as may reasonably be necessary without physical duplication for the Respondent to provide adequate service to the American Telephone and Telegraph Company at the location hereinabove referred to; and, that the Complainant and the Respondent negotiate and mutually agree for a fair and just compensation to be paid by the Respondent to the Complainant for the use of its poles and facilities, as hereinabove ordered, on or before ninety (90) days from the date of this Order. If such agreement cannot be made both parties are hereby ordered to so notify the [350]*350Commission and a supplemental hearing will be held by the Commission to determine a fair and just compensation for such use.
“This Order shall become effective twenty-one (21) days from date.”

Southeast argues that this portion of the Commission’s order amounts to a deprivation of property without due process of law in violation of pertinent provisions of the state and federal constitutions.

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Western Power & Gas Co. v. Southest Colorado Power Ass'n
435 P.2d 219 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1967)

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Bluebook (online)
435 P.2d 219, 164 Colo. 344, 1967 Colo. LEXIS 803, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/western-power-gas-co-v-southest-colorado-power-assn-colo-1967.