Marietta Board of Lights & Water v. Georgia Public Service Commission
Marietta Board of Lights & Water v. Georgia Public Service Commission
Opinion of the Court
This appeal involves the construction of certain provisions of the Georgia Territorial Electric Service Act (the act), OCGA § 46-3-1 et seq., which was enacted in 1973 (Ga. L. 1973, p. 200) “in order (1) to assure the most efficient, economical, and orderly rendering of retail electric service within the state, (2) to inhibit duplication of the lines of electric suppliers, (3) to foster the extension and location of electric supplier lines in the manner most compatible with the preservation and enhancement of the state’s physical environment, and (4) to protect and conserve lines lawfully constructed by electric suppliers . . . [by] implement [ing] a plan whereby every geographic area within the state shall be either assigned to an electric supplier or declared unassigned as to any electric supplier. . . .” OCGA § 46-3-2. The act also provided certain statutory guidelines for the initial assignment of territories to the various electric suppliers (OCGA §§ 46-3-4 through 46-3-7), and the Georgia Public Service Commission (commission) was vested with the authority necessary to implement the act.
On October 7, 1975 appellant Marietta Board of Lights & Water, appellee Cobb Electric Membership Corporation (CEMC) and other electric suppliers within the Cobb County area filed a joint application with the commission for the purpose of assigning certain areas located in unincorporated Cobb County. Pursuant to OCGA § 46-3-4, which governs the assignment of all areas which were located outside the corporate limits of any municipality as of March 29, 1973, the commission entered an order on November 18, 1975 assigning the area to appellant; however, because CEMC already owned a distribution line in the area, both appellant and CEMC stipulated that CEMC was entitled to exercise 500 foot “corridor rights” with respect to its distribution line, as provided in OCGA § 46-3-4 (4). That subsection, although not employing the term “corridor rights,” gives an
On February 10, 1982 the City of Marietta annexed this previously unincorporated portion of Cobb County. Appellant, relying on OCGA § 46-3-7 (2) (D), concluded that this annexation reduced CEMC’s corridor rights from 500 to 300 feet and, without the consent or permission of CEMC, began extending service to customers located further than 300 feet from CEMC’s distribution line. CEMC filed a petition with the commission on August 5, 1982 alleging that appellant’s actions were in violation of the act.
1. Appellant argues in its first enumeration that the superior court’s order should be reversed and remanded for consideration of the validity of the commission’s conclusions of law, arguing that it is evident from the superior court’s order, which stated that there was “ample evidence to support the orders of the . . . Commission,” but which did not make any statement concerning the commission’s conclusions of law, that the superior court erroneously considered only factual or evidentiary matters, which were not in dispute, and failed to consider appellant’s challenges to the commission’s conclusions of law. We disagree. We are not persuaded that the superior court, which is authorized to consider the sufficiency of the evidence to support the commission’s conclusions on questions of law, see Stevens v. Bd. of Regents, 129 Ga. App. 347 (199 SE2d 620) (1973), failed to consider those matters which were properly before it for review. This enumeration is without merit.
Judgment affirmed.
With the exception of the commission, which was made a party defendant on appellant’s appeal to the superior court, the remaining appellees were granted leave to intervene before the commission; however, only appellant and CEMC assert a right to extend electrical service within the disputed area.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.