Abstract

The Supreme Court Blocks Utility Regulation

The article presents information on blocking of utility regulation by the U.S. Supreme Court. The latest decision, of the Supreme Court on public utility regulation, handed down May 8, 1933, in the Los Angeles Gas and Electric Company case, and hailed as a great step forward, is only another reminder that the chief obstacle to effective regulation is the attitude of the Supreme Court on the all-important and little-understood question of "valuation." Although the Supreme Court achieved a proper result in upholding this order, which it could hardly have reversed, the opinion itself, written by chief justice, only served further to muddle the already muddled utility law by perpetuating the confusion and uncertainty which now exist.