Lycoming Edison Co. v. Public Service Commission

Citations

• 67 Pa. Super. 608
• 1917 Pa. Super. LEXIS 466

Syllabus

<p>Railroads — Construction of siding — Eminent domain — Discretion of directors — Public Service Commission — Jurisdiction.</p> <p>There is nothing in the Public Service Act which authorizes the Public Service Commission to order a railroad company to exercise its power of eminent domain for the purpose of constructing a .siding from its tracks to the plant of a light, heat and power company. The discretionary power to exercise such power has always been lodged in the board of directors of the railroad company, and the act does not substitute the discretion of the Public Service Commission for that of the board of directors.</p> <p>Whether a proposed construction by a railroad conlpany be a siding or a branch, in either case when property must be condemned, such taking must be by a colórate act requiring as much formality as though it were a part of the main roadbed, — by a resolution of the board of directors.</p> <p>A public service corporation cannot be compelled by the commission to do an act which is ultra vires, and a common carrier cannot be compelled to extend its line beyond the reasonable demand of its charter obligation; nor within the demands of the charter obligation can it be compelled to open or extend lines or branches into unremunerative, unproductive or undeveloped territory, such as coal fields or nearby towns, unless such authority be expressly granted to the commission to compel such extension, and then due regard must be had to the financial resources of the company, its ability to procure capital to make the improvement, and the probabilities of the success of the improvements must be such as not to imperil the capital already launched in the enterprise.</p>