A divided State Corporation Commission ruled Friday that the General Assembly did not overstep its constitutional authority by temporarily prohibiting state regulators from reviewing the rates power companies charge their customers.
In a 2-1 order, the SCC rejected a challenge brought by a consortium of utility customers who argued the legislature essentially stripped regulators of a power granted to them by the state constitution. The three-member commission found that the General Assembly can suspend the SCC’s regulatory reviews due to constitutional language allowing the legislature to issue “criteria and other requirements” for the regulation of utility rates.
SCC Commissioner James C. Dimitri dissented, arguing that language should not be interpreted so broadly as to allow the General Assembly to take regulatory power away from a state agency.
