Citizens Utilities Co. v. Superior Court

Petitioner seeks a writ of prohibition restraining respondent court from entertaining a quo warranto action brought against petitioner by the People of the State of California.

In the subject action the People pray for a judgment declaring that petitioner be declared to be unlawfully holding and exercising a franchise' to construct, operate and maintain a water system serving Niles-Decoto and vicinities and ordering that petitioner be excluded and ousted from the exercise of said franchise. Petitioner demurred- to the People’s complaint asserting that respondent court lacked subject matter jurisdiction. The demurrer was overruled.

Petitioner and its predecessor have operated a privately owned public water utility in the Niles-Decoto area of Alameda County since 1909 under a franchise established pursuant to article XI, section 19, of the California Constitution as then in effect. Since 1911 the utility has been subject to the jurisdiction of the Railroad Commission and its successor, the Public Utilities Commission (hereafter also referred to as “the Commission”).

For several years .petitioner has had difficulty in limiting the mineral content of its water. The water…