Clarion River Power Co. v. Smith, 5398.
| Citation | 61 App. DC 186,59 F.2d 861 |
| Decision Date | 31 May 1932 |
| Docket Number | No. 5398.,5398. |
| Parties | CLARION RIVER POWER CO. v. SMITH et al. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (District of Columbia) |
Wm. Marshall Bullitt, of Louisville, Ky., and Robert F. Cogswell, of Washington, D. C., for appellant.
Seth W. Richardson, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Leo A. Rover, U. S. Atty., John W. Fihelly, Asst. U. S. Atty., and James F. Lawson, all of Washington, D. C., for appellees.
Before MARTIN, Chief Justice, and ROBB, VAN ORSDEL, HITZ, and GRONER, Associate Justices.
Appeal from a decree in the Supreme Court of the District dismissing the bill (filed October 24, 1930) of the Clarion River Power Company, hereinafter called the Clarion Company. The purpose of the bill was to determine whether the Federal Water Power Act of June 10, 1920, c. 285, 41 Stat. 1063-(16 USCA § 791 et seq.), authorized the Federal Power Commission to conduct an official hearing to ascertain the original cost and net investment of the Clarion Company in a water power project on the Clarion river, in the state of Pennsylvania, known as the Piney project.
In the Federal Water Power Act a comprehensive scheme is presented under which water power on navigable rivers may be developed by private interests for the benefit of the public. To administer the provisions of the act, a "Federal Power Commission," composed originally of three members, was established. The membership has been increased to five (Act of June 23, 1930, c. 572, 46 Stat. 797, 16 USCA §§ 792 and note, 793, 797).
Under section 3 of the act (16 USCA § 796), "net investment" means the actual legitimate original cost as defined and interpreted in the "classification of investment in road and equipment of steam roads, issue of 1914, Interstate Commerce Commission," etc.
Under section 4 (a) the commission is authorized to make investigations for certain specified purposes "to the extent the commission may deem necessary or useful for the purposes of this chapter"; and "in order to aid the commission in determining the net investment of a licensee in any project" (italics ours), it is made the duty of the licensee to file a sworn statement, in duplicate, showing in detail such cost, one copy of which the commission is required to file with the Secretary of the Treasury. It is also made the duty of the licensee to grant to the commission free access to such project, addition, or betterment, and to all maps, profiles, contracts, reports of engineers, accounts, books, records, and all other papers and documents relating thereto.
Under section 4 (f) the commission is authorized to prescribe rules and regulations for a system of accounts and for the maintenance thereof by licensees. Authority is also conferred on the commission to examine all books and accounts of such licensees at any time; "to require them to submit at such time or times as the commission may require statements and reports including full information as to assets and liabilities, capitalization, net investment and reduction thereof, gross receipts, interest due and paid, depreciation and other reserves, cost of project, cost of maintenance and operation of the project, cost of renewals and replacements of the project works, and as to depreciation of the project works and as to production, transmission, use and sale of power, also to require any licensee to make adequate provision for currently determining said costs and other facts." (Italics ours.)
Under section 4 (g) the commission is authorized to hold hearings and to order testimony to be taken in connection with the application for any permit or license, "or the regulation of rates, service, or securities, or the making of any investigation, as provided in this chapter."
Under section 4 (h) the commission is authorized "to perform any and all acts, to make such rules and regulations, and to issue such orders not inconsistent with this chapter as may be necessary and proper for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this chapter." (16 USCA § 797 (a, f-h).
Section 6 (16 USCA § 799) prescribes that licenses under the act shall be issued for a period not exceeding fifty years, and that "each such license shall be conditioned upon acceptance by the licensee of all of the terms and conditions of this chapter and such further conditions, if any, as the commission shall prescribe in conformity with this chapter, which said terms and conditions and the acceptance thereof shall be expressed in said license."
Under section 10 (d), 16 USCA § 803 (d), after the first twenty years of operation of any project, "out of surplus earned thereafter, if any, accumulated in excess of a specified reasonable rate of return upon the actual, legitimate investment of a licensee in any project or projects under license the licensee shall establish and maintain amortization reserves, which reserves shall, in the discretion of the commission, be held until the termination of the license or be applied from time to time in reduction of the net investment."
Section 10 (e), 16 USCA § 803 (e), provides "for the expropriation to the Government of excessive profits until the respective States shall make provision for preventing excessive profits or for the expropriation thereof to themselves, or until the period of amortization as herein provided is reached, and in fixing such charges the commission shall seek to avoid increasing the price to the consumers of power by such charges, and charges for the expropriation of excessive profits may be adjusted from time to time by the commission as conditions may require."
Section 14 (16 USCA § 807) provides that upon not less than two years' notice in writing from the commission the United States shall have the right upon the expiration of any license to take over and operate any project or projects, * * *"
Under ...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
First Iowacooperative v. Federal Power Commission State of Iowa
...122, 70 L.Ed. 289; United States v. Appalachian Electric Power Co., 311 U.S. 377, 61 S.Ct. 291, 85 L.Ed. 243; Clarion River Power Co. v. Smith, 61 App.D.C. 186, 59 F.2d 861, certiorari denied 287 U.S. 639, 53 S.Ct. 88, 77 L.D. 553; Alabama Power Co. v. McNinch, 68 App.D.C. 132, 94 F.2d 601;......
-
Chemehuevi Tribe of Indians v. FEDERAL POWER COM'N
...Corp. v. FPC, 124 F.2d 800, 806 (3d Cir.), appeal dismissed, 313 U.S. 546, 61 S.Ct. 1084, 85 L.Ed. 1512 (1941); Clarion River Power Co. v. Smith, 61 App.D.C. 186, 59 F.2d 861, cert. denied, 287 U.S. 639, 53 S.Ct. 88, 77 L.Ed. 553 (1932); Appalachian Electric Power Co. v. Smith, 4 F.Supp. 6,......
-
Alabama Power Co. v. Federal Power Commission
...Regulation, 50 Yale L.J. 1180, 1190, 1203; 1 Pike and Fischer, Admin.Law, Current Text, 34c.1-8. 42 Clarion River Power Co. v. Smith, 61 App.D.C. 186, 188, 59 F.2d 861, 863, certiorari denied, 287 U.S. 639, 53 S.Ct. 88, 77 L.Ed. 43 Northern States Power Co. v. Federal Power Commission, 7 Ci......
-
Alabama Power Co. v. McNinch
...cost of a project and to require the licensee to set up his books showing the cost as thus determined. Cf. Clarion River Power Co. v. Smith, 61 App.D.C. 186, 59 F.2d 861, 1932, certiorari denied 287 U.S. 639, 53 S.Ct. 88, 77 L.Ed. 553, 1932. It is also clear that since "net investment" is c......