Township of Springfield v. Public Service Commission

Citations

• 74 Pa. Super. 217
• 1920 Pa. Super. LEXIS 124

Syllabus

<p>Public service companies — Water companies — Fire protection service — Second-class townships — Powers—Act of July Ify, 1917, P. L. 8Jf0, chapter 7, article I, section 881.</p> <p>Townships of the first class are, in effect, quasi municipal corporations and contracts which they make for public service are 'subject to the scrutiny and approval of the Public Service Commission in the same manner as those of a borough or city.</p> <p>Where the township commissioners, under the authority of the Act of July 14, 1917, P. L. 840, chapter 7, article I, section 381, enter into contracts with a water company to supply fire protection, such contracts are subject to the power of the Public Service Commission to determine the - fair and reasonable rates which the water company is entitled to receive for said service.</p> <p>The determination by the Public Service Commission of the rate to be charged by the water company, which was not unconstitutional, unlawful, arbitrary or unreasonable, is the proper legal rate, notwithstanding the fact that the various townships had entered into contracts with the water company providing for other rates prior to the Public Service Company Law.</p>