PUBLIC UTILITIES-POWER OF INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISION TO GIVE CERTIFICATE OF CONVENIENCE AND NECESSITY

Authors

Abstract

Certain coal fields in West Virginia are served by the Chesapeake and Ohio, the Norfolk and Western, and the Virginian railroads. The Chesapeake and the Norfolk compete for the westbound coal traffic coming over the Virginian which has no lines in the western part of these fields. The Interstate Commerce Commission authorized the Virginian to build a short connecting line which made possible much cheaper carriage over the Chesapeake, and authorized the Norfolk to construct a similar line in order to compete on equal terms. The Chesapeake sought a reversal on the ground that the Interstate Commerce Commission is not authorized to grant a certificate of public convenience and necessity for new construction merely to secure competition between carriers. Held, order sustained. The Transportation Act gives the Interstate Commerce Commission power to authorize new construction on such conditions as in its judgment the public convenience and necessity may require. It does not specify the considerations by which the Commission shall be guided; and, since the purpose of this provision is to prevent wasteful and unnecessary construction in the public interest, it would be unreasonable to find that the Commission can not authorize new construction to secure competitive service, especially since the Transportation Act clearly discloses a policy to preserve competition among carriers. Chesapeake and Ohio Ry. v. United States, U. S. Sup. Ct. 1931, Adv. Op. No. 73.

Recommended Citation

PUBLIC UTILITIES-POWER OF INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISION TO GIVE CERTIFICATE OF CONVENIENCE AND NECESSITY, 29 Mich. L. Rev. 943 (1931).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol29/iss7/32