Kern Island Canal Co. v. Railroad Commission

The above seven actions, arising out of an ad interim order of the Railroad Commission of the state of California, were consolidated for this hearing. The plaintiffs are public utility service corporations furnishing and selling water for irrigation purposes. The defendants in each case are the -Railroad Commission of the state of California and the individual members of the Railroad Commission of the state of California. The plaintiffs seek to enjoin as confiscatory, under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the enforcement of a water rate promulgated by the Railroad Commission, and request an injunction against interference with *849 plaintiffs charging rates estimated by-plaintiffs to be sufficient to produce their operating expenses and a fair return on the values of their operative properties until the establishment of lawful rates by the commission. Practically all of the stock of the plaintiff companies is held by the Kern County Land Company, and the pleadings show that the commission determined a uniform rate for all the plaintiff companies, instead of fixing rates for each company upon its respective property values. The commission alleged…