City of Bartlesville v. Corporation Commission

Citations

• 199 P. 396
• 82 Okla. 160
• 1921 OK 223
• 1921 Okla. LEXIS 219

Syllabus

<p>(Syllabus.)</p> <p>1. Corporation Commission —Rate-Making —Notice to Parties Affected — Necessity.</p> <p>Rate-making being a legislative power, notice to parties affected by an order of the Corporation Commission temporarily increasing gas rates upon application of a public service company need not be given unless specifically required by the statute.</p> <p>2. Same — Waiver of Notice Required by Statute.</p> <p>Where a party is entitled by statute to notice, in a particular manner, of a rate-making order made by the Corporation Commission; he may waive the statutory manner of service by appearing and participating in the proceedings in which the order is made.</p> <p>3. Same — Power to Prescribe Temporary Rates.</p> <p>The rate-making power of .the commission is not limited .to any particular theory or method, and the commission may, if it has the necessary facts before it, prescribe a temporary schedule of rates to be effective until the commission has had time to make an investigation and a valuation of the property of the public utility.</p> <p>4. Same — Nature of Rate-Malting Power.</p> <p>The power to regulate rates and charges rendered the public by public service corporations is inherent in the state, and is a necessary attribute of sovereignty.</p> <p>5. Constitutional Law — State Powers — Rate-Making.</p> <p>■Section 7, article 18, of the Constitution of ■ Oklahoma, expressly prohibits the surrender by the state government of the power to regulate the charges for public services.</p> <p>6. Gas — Rate Regulation — Corporation Commission — Powers of City Charters.</p> <p>The supreme .legislature of the state having delegated the exclusive power of regulating rates for gas furnished by public utilities to the Corporation Commission, the state has such a sovereign interest in this subject of legislation as to preclude the cities of the state from entering this field by charter provisions or otherwise.</p>