Alaska Electric Light & Power Co. v. City of Juneau

(after stating the facts as above).

The appellant, in its complaint, does not assert that the rates ordained by Ordinance No. 186 are unreasonable or confiscatory, but contends that under the provisions of Ordinance No. 93 maximum rates were established for the lifetime of the franchise, that the ordinance and the acceptance thereof constitute a binding contract, and that Ordinance No. 186 is void as depriving it of property without due process of law.

The court below found that the police power to fix rates for service by a public utility might be delegated to a municipal corporation, that there was no delegation of such power until the territorial Legislature enacted Chapter 50 of the Laws of 1919, and that therefore the ordinances of 1908 in establishing maximum rates were null and void, because the power to fix such rates for the period of the franchise rested solely in Congress and had not been delegated.

The Act of Congress of April 28, 1904, 33 Stat. 529 , gives to municipal corporations in Alaska, among other powers, the authority to provide for fire protection, water supply, lights, etc. ' Power granted to a municipality to provide for water supply and lights…