Fed. Power Comm'n v. S. Cal. Edison Co. - 376 U.S. 205, 84 S. Ct. 644 (1964)

Rule:

Section 201(b) of the Federal Power Act (Act), 16 U.S.C.S. §§ 791a, 824 et seq., grants the Federal Power Commission jurisdiction of all sales of electric energy at wholesale in interstate commerce not expressly exempted by the Act itself.

Facts:

Petitioner City of Colton, California, purchased electric energy, part of which was from out-of-state, from respondent Southern California Edison Company (Edison), a California electric utility company, using some for itself but reselling the bulk to others. The respondent Public Utilities Commission of California had previously exercised jurisdiction over the Edison-Colton sale, but on Colton’s petition, the petitioner Federal Power Commission (FPC) asserted jurisdiction under § 201 (b) of the Federal Power Act, which extended federal regulatory power to the "sale of electric energy at wholesale in interstate commerce." The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit set aside the order on the ground that Federal Power Commission jurisdiction over interstate wholesales of electricity was confined to those transactions which were constitutionally beyond the power of state regulation by reason of the commerce clause, and since the regulation of the interstate wholesales in the instant case by the Public Utilities Commission of California was permissible under the commerce clause, the Federal Power Commission had no jurisdiction.

Issue:

Did the Federal Power Commission have jurisdiction over the Edison-Colton sale?

Answer:

Yes.

Conclusion:

The court reversed the lower court's judgment. The court held that § 201(b) granted petitioner FPC jurisdiction of all sales of electric energy at wholesale in interstate commerce not expressly exempted by the Act itself. According to the court, the FPC's jurisdiction under § 201 (b) was plenary. The scope of FPC’s jurisdiction was not to be determined by a case-by-case analysis of the impact of state regulation upon the national interest, nor can the general policy declaration in § 201 (a) nullify the specific grant of jurisdiction in § 201 (b). As such, the court held that the Federal Power Commission properly asserted jurisdiction of the sale of electric power from respondent electric company to petitioner city.