CONSTITUTIONAL LAW-RIGHT TO COMPETITION

Authors

Abstract

The appellee was engaged in the business of selling natural gas. A rival utility entered the field duplicating the plant and facilities of the appellee and established with the consent of the Public Service Commission a rate lower than the prevailing rate charged by the appellee. In an attempt to retain its customers against the lower prices of its competitor the appellee lowered its rate several times. The appellants finally ordered the appellee to submit evidence as to the reasonableness of its rates. Upon investigation the Public Service Commission found that the business in the territory was capable of supporting only one gas company and that the rates charged by the appellee were so low as to imperil its ability to serve. The commission thereupon established a minimum rate equal to that charged by the appellee's competitor. The appellee now seeks to enjoin the appellant from putting the proposed rates into effect, alleging that the rates so established deprive the appellee of federal due process by taking from him his right to competition. On appeal from a decree granting the injunction, held, that the rates prescribed did not deprive the appellee of his constitutional rights. Public Service Commission of Montana v. Great Northern Utilities Co., 289 U. S. 130, 53 Sup. Ct. 546 (1933).

Recommended Citation

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW-RIGHT TO COMPETITION, 32 Mich. L. Rev. 547 (1934).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol32/iss4/12