BOWLING GREEN ST. U. v. PUB. UTIL COMM., 40 Ohio St.2d 38 (1974)


318 N.E.2d 848

BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY, APPELLANT, v. PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF OHIO ET AL., APPELLEES.

No. 73-956Supreme Court of Ohio.
Decided November 6, 1974.

Public Utilities Commission — Telephone rate increase — Order not unreasonable or unlawful, when.

APPEAL from the Public Utilities Commission.

Appellant, Bowling Green State University, appeals from orders of the Public Utilities Commission entered August 16 and October 15, 1973, which approved rate increases to Northern Ohio Telephone Company.

On August 2, 1973, on Northern’s application for a rate increase, the commission authorized the filing of tariffs in accordance with the commission’s findings and provided that, upon receipt by the commission of tariffs conforming to such order, the commission would “review and approve same by entry.” On August 16, the commission approved Northern’s amended tariff schedules for a “period not to exceed sixty days.”

Intervening before the commission, Bowling Green filed, on September 4, an application for rehearing on the commission’s August 2 and 16 orders and requested a stay of those orders and tariff schedules. The application was denied.

The commission, on October 15, made permanent tariff schedules filed August 2 and approved for temporary filing August 16, except that the charge for nonpublished service was deleted. Bowling Green’s subsequent application for a rehearing and stay of the orders of August 2, August 16 and October 15 was denied.

Bowling Green contends that the commission may not authorize the filing of temporary tariffs except in emergency

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and that the rate increases granted by the commission are unreasonable as applied to it.

The commission argues that Bowling Green was not affected by the commission’s August 16 temporary order, because the October 15 order only approved on a permanent basis the rates set forth in the temporary tariff schedules approved August 16 except for the nonpublished service to which Bowling Green does not subscribe. The commission urges further than it is not required “to ascertain the value of property or expenses used in relation to a specific rate classification.”

Messrs. Schwartz Schwartz and Mr. Arthur Shapiro, for appellant.

Mr. William J. Brown, attorney general, and Mr. Keith Henley, for appellee Public Utilities Commission.

Messrs. Power, Jones Schneider, Mr. John Robert Jones and Mr. Andrew T. Jones, for appellee Northern Ohio Telephone Company.

Per Curiam.

The essence of Bowling Green’s argument is that the rate increase allowed Northern is unreasonable as applied to Bowling Green.

This court does not find that the order of the Public Utilities Commission is unreasonable or unlawful. It is, therefore, affirmed.

Order affirmed.

O’NEILL, C.J., HERBERT, CORRIGAN, STERN, CELEBREZZE, W. BROWN and P. BROWN, JJ., concur.

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