PUBLIC UTILITIES--CONFISCATORY RATE-OPERATION ENFORCED IN ACCORD WITH CONTRACT BETWEEN PREDECESSOR AND MUNICIPALITY

Authors

Abstract

This action was brought to compel the defendant to operate in Decatur about a mile of its interurban system at an admittedly confiscatory rate. Defendant's predecessor, chartered by the Georgia legislature to acquire and operate street railways, contracted with plaintiff, in return for permission to remove one Decatur line, to operate the line involved and never charge more than a five-cent fare. The cost of service, aside from compensation to capital, exceeded the revenue. With a paving assessment imminent, the carrier offered to surrender its permit to operate, and notified plaintiff that it would discontinue service. The city refused to accept the surrender. From judgment against it, affirmed by the state supreme court, the carrier brought certiorari on due process theory. Held, while the rate contract continues, as it will during the period intended by the parties unless earlier altered by them or relaxed by the state, the losses attributed to the stretch of tract involved and the five-cent rate are immaterial. Georgia Power Co. v. City of Decatur, 50 Sup. Ct. 36g.

Recommended Citation

PUBLIC UTILITIES--CONFISCATORY RATE-OPERATION ENFORCED IN ACCORD WITH CONTRACT BETWEEN PREDECESSOR AND MUNICIPALITY, 29 Mich. L. Rev. 523 (1931).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol29/iss4/34