PUBLIC UTILITIES - CONSTITUTIONALITY OF STATUTE IMPOSING REGULATORY COSTS UPON UTILITIES

Authors

Charles W. Allen, University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow

Abstract

A state statute imposed an annual fee of one-tenth of one per cent of gross operating revenues upon public utilities. The fees were placed in a state revolving fund used to defray the expenses of administration of the public service law. Plaintiff railroad paid the fees under protest and brought an action to recover that amount, claiming that the act was unconstitutional. The trial court held that the act was unconstitutional on its face. The state supreme court revised this decision, holding that act valid and placing the burden of proof on the plaintiff to show that it had become invalid in operation. On appeal the United States Supreme Court remanded the case for a new trial, holding that the act was valid but that the burden of proof rested on the state to show that it had not become unconstitutional in its operative effect. Great Northern Ry. v. State of Washington, 300 U.S. 154, 57 S. Ct. 397 (1937).

Recommended Citation

Charles W. Allen, PUBLIC UTILITIES - CONSTITUTIONALITY OF STATUTE IMPOSING REGULATORY COSTS UPON UTILITIES, 36 Mich. L. Rev. 163 (1937).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol36/iss1/25