The term "commission", as used in Chapter 63, Article 7 NMSA 1978, means the public regulation commission. The office of the commission shall be located in the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
History: Laws 1912, ch. 78, § 1; Code 1915, § 5373; C.S. 1929, § 134-1106; 1941 Comp., § 74-701; 1953 Comp., § 69-7-1; Laws 1998, ch. 108, § 50; 2001, ch. 245, § 2.
ANNOTATIONSCompiler's notes. — Chapter 63, Article 7, 63-7-1 to 63-7-23 NMSA 1978, would have been repealed by Laws 1998, ch. 108, § 82, effective July 1, 2003. However, Laws 2003, ch. 23, § 1 and Laws 2003, ch. 416, § 5 repealed Laws 1998, ch. 108, § 82 before the repeal took effect.
Cross references. — For creation of commission, see N.M. Const., art. XI, § 1.
For duties of commission, see N.M. Const., art. XI, § 2.
The 2001 amendment, effective July 1, 2001, substituted "term defined; office" for "terms defined; office organization" in the section heading; and rewrote the first sentence, which formerly read "The terms 'commission' and 'clerk' or 'chief clerk' where used in this article shall mean, respectively, the public regulation commission and the chief clerk of the commission."
The 1998 amendment, effective January 1, 1999, amended this section to change "state corporation commission" to "public regulation commission" to reflect the January 1, 1999 repeal of former Article XI, § 1 of the New Mexico Constitution.
Generally, as to power to fix rates. — The power to fix rates is an attribute of sovereignty, legislative in its nature and delegated by the constitution to the corporation commission (now public regulation commission) which was intended to have all the power to fix rates, and the legislature to have none of it. Mountain States Tel. & Tel. Co. v. N.M. SCC, 1977-NMSC-032, 90 N.M. 325, 563 P.2d 588.
No power to make rates retroactive. — Neither the applicable constitutional provisions nor the pertinent statutes provide the commission with permission to make rates retroactive. Mountain States Tel. & Tel. Co. v. N.M. SCC, 1977-NMSC-032, 90 N.M. 325, 563 P.2d 588.
Economic scheme as a whole to be looked at. — The commission has a constitutional mandate to consider a telephone company's earnings, investments and expenditures as a whole within the state in promulgating rates; it is not confined solely to the cost-of-service formula. Mountain States Tel. & Tel. Co. v. N.M. SCC, 1977-NMSC-032, 90 N.M. 325, 563 P.2d 588.
Value of service may be looked at. — Under some circumstances the value of telephone service may be entitled to more weight than an estimate of cost of service, which necessarily involves many allocations on a more or less arbitrary basis. Mountain States Tel. & Tel. Co. v. N.M. SCC, 1977-NMSC-032, 90 N.M. 325, 563 P.2d 588.
Latest available economic information should be utilized by the commission in order to insure that projected figures bear a meaningful relation to future as well as past and present fiscal realities. Mountain States Tel. & Tel. Co. v. N.M. SCC, 1977-NMSC-032, 90 N.M. 325, 563 P.2d 588.
Determining level of subsidies to telephone users is commission function. Mountain States Tel. & Tel. Co. v. N.M. SCC, 1977-NMSC-032, 90 N.M. 325, 563 P.2d 588.
Rate-making power of commission is plenary, except as restricted by those principles of constitutional law which would have limited its exercise if it had been intrusted to the legislature. Mountain States Tel. & Tel. Co. v. N.M. SCC, 1977-NMSC-032, 90 N.M. 325, 563 P.2d 588.
Bond requirement. — Where the supreme court's order prior to review fixed interim telephone rates to be in force under bond for one year, and after review the court found substantial evidence in the record to show that these rates were just and reasonable, it held that there was no necessity that a bond be provided. Mountain States Tel. & Tel. Co. v. N.M. SCC, 1977-NMSC-032, 90 N.M. 325, 563 P.2d 588.
Given by implication of law. — The authority to grant rates under bond, as a lawful and necessary adjunct to the effectual exercise of the power to fix interim rates, is given by implication of law. Mountain States Tel. & Tel. Co. v. N.M. SCC, 1977-NMSC-032, 90 N.M. 325, 563 P.2d 588.
Generally, as to duty to formulate rates. — It is inherent in the commission's constitutional mandate that it has the authority to refuse to fix telephone rates when it does not have substantial evidence from which fair rates can be reasonably calculated or determined. Under such circumstances the commission has a duty to deny the rates, and thus it cannot be said that under all situations, without regard for the state of the evidence, the commission has a duty to formulate rates. Mountain States Tel. & Tel. Co. v. N.M. SCC, 1977-NMSC-032, 90 N.M. 325, 563 P.2d 588.
Duty affirmative, not passive. — The commission has an ongoing, affirmative duty to establish rules and regulations, issue orders, examine records, conduct investigations, grant continuances and do all other things necessary to insure that the public has fair telephone rates and that the utility is fairly treated; its role is not a passive one. Mountain States Tel. & Tel. Co. v. N.M. SCC, 1977-NMSC-032, 90 N.M. 325, 563 P.2d 588.
Where constitutional duty to fix interim rates. — The commission, when it had found that the rates of the telephone company were not fair and reasonable and when it became obvious that it would be a considerable length of time before permanent rates could be fixed, had a constitutional duty to fix interim rates that would minimize the confiscation of the company's property, and failure to increase the rates was an unconstitutional confiscation of the company's property without due process of law. Mountain States Tel. & Tel. Co. v. N.M. SCC, 1977-NMSC-032, 90 N.M. 325, 563 P.2d 588.
Public policy enters into the apportionment of rates, and it is incumbent upon the commission to make public policy decisions and to change proposed rates that do not comport therewith. Mountain States Tel. & Tel. Co. v. N.M. SCC, 1977-NMSC-032, 90 N.M. 325, 563 P.2d 588.
Generally, as to construction and maintenance of railroad crossing. — The state corporation commission (now public regulation commission) has the power to require a railway company to construct and maintain a crossing at grade whenever it finds that the company's tracks are intersected by any kind of way open to the public as a matter of right for vehicular travel. The commission's power includes the power to require the company to do anything which will make the crossing "good and sufficient," that is, safe and convenient for public use. The commission can order the railroad company to construct and maintain a crossing at grade at its own expense, except when the state highway department (now department of transportation) is involved in the construction or reconstruction of the crossing. When the state highway department (now department of transportation) is involved, it will pay the costs of making the crossing's surface level with the rails. The railroad must bear the remaining construction costs as well as all maintenance costs. 1974 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 74-07.
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 13 Am. Jur. 2d Carriers §§ 20 to 32; 74 Am. Jur. 2d Telecommunications §§ 18 to 20.
86 C.J.S. Telecommunications §§ 5, 6, 8 to 12, 17.