Staples v. Public Service Commission

Citations

• 79 Pa. Super. 6
• 1922 Pa. Super. LEXIS 171

Syllabus

<p>Public Service Company Law — Public Service Commission — Water companies — Bates—Bate restrictions incorporated in charter —Begulation—Jurisdiction of Public Service Commission.</p> <p>The regulation of rates, to be charged for service by a water company, is under the control of the Public Service Commission exercising the delegated police powers of the Commonwealth.</p> <p>It is immaterial that the act of assembly creating the company contained a provision limiting the amount to be charged for such service.</p> <p>The same authority which authorized the rate in the charter of the water company has, by subsequent legislation, established a general method for determining the reasonable rates which such corporation might collect. If the proviso in the charter of the water company was regulatory, it was an exercise of authority by the legislature which has since been transferred to the Public Service Commission, and is not different in its nature and effect from the order of the commission fixing a rate. The enactment of the Public Service Company Law repeals such regulatory legislation, because it is inconsistent with the whole scheme and process of public service legislation.</p>