Opinion
No. 41937.
October 9, 1961.
1. Public Service Commission — interstate commerce — Commission without statutory power to regulate rates interstate pipeline company charged for direct sales of natural gas to consumers for industrial use. Sec. 7716-01 et seq., Code 1942.
Headnote as approved by Gillespie, J.
APPEAL from the Chancery Court of Hinds County; W.T. HORTON, Chancellor.
W.E. Feldhaus, Jr., Owensboro, Ky.; Heidelberg, Woodliff Franks, Jackson, for appellant.
I. The sale of Texas and Louisiana gas by appellant, a natural gas transmission company, from its interstate pipeline system, to the Mississippi Power Light Company, for consumptive use, was a sale in "interstate commerce".
A. "Interstate commerce" judicially defined. Board of Disability v. Hudson, 229 Miss. 631, 91 So.2d 718; Dunn Construction Co. v. Craig, 191 Miss. 682, 2 So.2d 166; Mills v. Barrett, 213 Miss. 171, 56 So.2d 485; Russell v. State, 231 Miss. 176, 94 So.2d 916; Wilson v. Yazoo M.V.R. Co., 192 Miss. 426, 6 So.2d 313; 50 Am. Jur., Secs. 225, 227, 238, 243, 244, 322 pp. 204, 210, 227, 238, 315; Ballentine Law Dictionary.
B. What constitutes "interstate commerce" in natural gas? Mississippi River Fuel Corp. v. Hoffman, 4 Ill.2d 268, 123 N.E.2d 503, 349 U.S. 935, 99 L.Ed. 1264; Panhandle East. Pipeline Co. v. Michigan Public Service Comm., 341 U.S. 329, 95 L.Ed. 993; Panhandle East. Pipeline Co. v. Public Service Comm., 332 U.S. 507, 92 L.Ed. 128; United Gas Pipeline Co. v. Willmut Gas Oil Co., 231 Miss. 700, 97 So.2d 530, 100 So.2d 609, 357 U.S. 937, 2 L.Ed.2d 1550, 78 S.Ct. 1384; 15 U.S.C.A. 717 et seq., 52 Stat. 821, Natural Gas Act.
II. Inasmuch as the sale by Texas Gas Transmission Corporation to the Mississippi Power Light Company at its Cleveland, Mississippi facility does not constitute doing business in intrastate commerce, then the Mississippi Public Service Commission has no power to regulate this sale in interstate commerce.
A. The Public Utility Act of 1956 (Chapter 372 of the Laws of Mississippi 1956, regular session), (Section 7716-01, et seq., Mississippi Code of 1942, recompiled), defined. First Nat. Bank of Memphis v. State Tax Comm., 210 Miss. 590, 49 So.2d 410; Mississippi River Fuel Corp. v. Illinois Commerce Comm., 1 Ill.2d 509, 116 N.E.2d 394; Public Utilities Comm. v. Colorado Intertate Gas Co., 142 Colo. 361, 351 P.2d 241; Richfield Oil Corp. v. Public Utilities Comm. of Cal., 6 Cal.Rptr. 548, 354 P.2d 4; Southern Counties Gas Corp. of Cal. v. Public Utilities Comm. of Cal., 5 L.Ed.2d 193; Secs. 702, 7716-01 et seq., Code 1942.
B. Statutes enacted by the Mississippi Legislature granting powers to various state boards and commissions will be strictly construed. Gulf S.I.R. Co. v. Mississippi Railroad Comm., 94 Miss. 124, 49 So. 118; Singing River Tire Shop v. Stone (Miss.), 21 So.2d 580; Tepper Bros. v. Buttross, 178 Miss. 659, 174 So. 536; Sec. 702, Code 1942; 73 C.J.S. 367.
C. Mississippi Public Service Commission cannot exercise "exclusive original jurisdiction" over the business and property utilized in performing this sale, for to do so would be to exclude the Federal Power Commission in an area in which it has asserted its power to act, and because the Legislature did not intend to grant the Public Service Commission concurrent jurisdiction over direct industrial sales of natural gas. Re South Georgia Natural Gas Co., 23 F.P.C. 795, 34 P.U.R. 3d 370.
D. Taxation of Texas Gas under section 36 of the Act is discriminatory in that the Mississippi Public Service Commission does not tax other public utilities doing business in interstate commerce on the same basis.
Joe T. Patterson, Attorney General by Wade Creekmore, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee, Mississippi Public Service Commission; Wise, Smith Carter, Jackson, for appellee, Mississippi Power Light Company; Eaton, Cottrell Galloway, Gulfport, for appellee, Mississippi Power Company; Green, Green Cheney, Jackson, for appellee, Willmut Gas Oil Company; Overstreet, Kuykendall, Perry Phillips, Jackson, for appellee, Mississippi Valley Gas Company.
I. The Legislature intended to subject "direct industrial gas sales" whether by interstate pipeline companies, or otherwise, to the jurisdiction of the Mississippi Public Service Commission. Arkansas-Louisiana Gas Co. v. Department of Public Utilities, 304 U.S. 61, 82 L.Ed. 1149, 58 S.Ct. 770; East Ohio Gas Co. v. Tax Comm., 283 U.S. 465, 75 L.Ed. 1171, 51 S.Ct. 499; Federal Power Comm. v. Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co., 337 U.S. 498, 93 L.Ed. 1499, 69 S.Ct. 1251; City of Holly Springs v. Marshall County, 104 Miss. 752, 61 So. 703; Illinois Natural Gas Co. v. Central Illinois Public Service Co., 314 U.S. 498, 86 L.Ed. 371, 62 S.Ct. 384; McKeigney v. Dunn Bros. Inc., 224 Miss. 762, 80 So.2d 802; Memphis Natural Gas Co. v. Beeler, 315 U.S. 649, 86 L.Ed. 1090, 62 S.Ct. 857; Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co. v. Michigan Public Service Comm., 341 U.S. 329, 95 L.Ed. 993, 71 S.Ct. 777; Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co. v. Public Service Comm. of Ind., 332 U.S. 507, 92 L.Ed. 128, 68 S.Ct. 190; Pennsylvania Gas Co. v. Public Service Comm., 252 U.S. 23, 64 L.Ed. 435; Prather v. Googe, 108 Miss. 670, 67 So. 156; Public Utilities Comm. for State of Kansas v. Landon, 249 U. S. 235, 63 L.Ed. 577; Rawlings v. Ladner, 174 Miss. 611, 165 So. 427; Southern Natural Gas Corp. v. State of Alabama, 301 U.S. 148, 81 L.Ed. 970, 57 S.Ct. 696; State of Missouri ex rel Barrett v. Kansas Natural Gas Co., and Kansas Natural Gas Co. v. State of Kansas ex rel Helm (consol. cases), 265 U.S. 298, 68 L.Ed. 1027, 44 S.Ct. 544; State Tax Comm. v. Interstate Natural Gas Co., 284 U.S. 41, 76 L.Ed. 156, 52 S.Ct. 62; Western Union Tel. Co. v. Mississippi Railroad Comm., 74 Miss. 80, 21 So. 15; Wilson v. Yazoo M.V.R. Co., 192 Miss. 424, 6 So. 313; Sec. 1(b), Natural Gas Act; 15 U.S.C.A., Sec. 717(c) et seq.
II. Federal Power Commission requirements of a certificate for extensions of an interstate pipeline company's facilities for direct sales to consumers does not oust state jurisdiction. City of Hastings, Neb. v. Federal Power Comm., 95 U.S. App. D.C. 158, 349 U.S. 920, 221 F.2d 31, 99 L.Ed. 1252, 75 S.Ct. 660, 8 P.U.R. 3d 379; City of Hastings, Neb. v. Kansas-Nebraska Natural Gas Co., 226 F.2d 419, 11 P.U.R. 3d 346; North Dakota v. Federal Power Comm., 247 F.2d 173, 20 P.U.R. 3d 460; Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co. v. Federal Power Comm., 232 F.2d 467, 13 P.U.R. 3d 497; Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co. v. Michigan Public Service Comm., supra; Re South Georgia Natural Gas Co. 34 P.U.R. 3d 370.
III. That Illinois and Colorado Supreme Courts have recently construed the state regulatory statutes of those states as excluding certain direct industrial gas sales by particular interstate pipeline companies from jurisdiction of state public service commission is not material to the issue in this case, the facts and statutes involved not being applicable here. Colorado Public Utilities Comm. v. Colorado Interstate Gas Co., 142 Colo. 361, 351 P.2d 241, 33 P.U.R. 3d 342; Illinois Commerce Comm. v. Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Co., 92 P.U.R. (N.S.) 370; Indiana Public Service Comm. v. Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Co., 224 Ind. 662, 71 N.E.2d 117, 67 P.U.R. (N.S.) 129; Industrial Gas Co. v. Ohio Public Utilities Comm., 135 Ohio St. 408, 21 N.E.2d 166, 29 P.U.R. (N.S.) 89; Mississippi River Fuel Corp. v. Hoffman, 4 Ill.2d 268, 123 N.E.2d 503; Mississippi River Fuel Corp. v. Illinois Commerce Comm., 1 Ill.2d 509, 116 N.E.2d 394; Mississippi State Tax Comm. v. Tennessee Gas Transmission Co., 239 Miss. 191, 116 So.2d 550; Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Co. v. Michigan Public Service Comm., 328 Mich. 650, 44 N.W.2d 324, 86 P.U.R. (N.S.) 1; Richfield Oil Corp. v. Public Utilities Comm., 6 Cal.Rptr. 548, 354 P.2d 4, 34 P.U.R. 3d 379; Southern Counties Gas Co. of Cal. v. Public Utilities Comm., 5 L.Ed.2d 193.
IV. There was no denial of due process to appellant in the hearing before the State Commission. Inland Empire Dist. Council, Lumber Sawmill Workers Union, Lewiston, Idaho v. Millis, 325 U.S. 697, 89 L.Ed. 1877, 65 S.Ct. 1316; Opp Cotton Mills v. Administrator, Wage Hour Div., Dept. of Labor, 312 U.S. 126, 657, 85 L. Ed 624, 61 S.Ct. 524.
Currie Currie, Simrall, Aultman Pope, Hattiesburg; Green, Green Cheney, Jackson, for appellee, Willmut Gas Oil Company.
I. All direct sales of industrial gas in Mississippi, although arising interstate, are regulable not by the Federal Power Commission, but by the Public Service Commission of Mississippi, and utilities so selling are not exempt from the cost of regulation imposed under Section 7716-36, Recompiled Mississippi Code of 1942. Regulation is the rule, not the exception.
II. There is no constitutional contravention by such imposition under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Collation of authorities: Adams v. Bank of Oxford, 78 Miss. 532, 29 So. 402; Adams v. Yazoo M.V.R. Co., 77 Miss. 194, 24 So. 200; Alabama v. Plantation Pipe Line Co., 265 Ala. 69, 89 So.2d 549; Alabama v. Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corp. (Ala.), 123 So.2d 172; Attala County v. Kelly, 68 Miss. 40, 8 So. 376; Bailey v. Southern Bell Tel. Tel. Co., 206 Miss. 723, 40 So.2d 606; Ballard v. Mississippi Cotton Oil Co., 81 Miss. 507, 34 So. 533; Bank of Morton v. State Bond Comm. (Miss.), 199 So. 507; Board of Trustees of Kingston Consol. School Dist. v. Forman, 233 Miss. 42, 101 So.2d 102; Butterfield Lumber Co. v. Guy, 92 Miss. 361, 46 So. 78; Columbus G.R. Co. v. Miller, 283 U.S. 96, 75 L.Ed. 861; Connecticut Light Power Co. v. Federal Power Comm., 324 U.S. 515, 89 L.Ed. 1150; Dejarnett v. Haynes, 23 Miss. 600; Detroit, City of v. Murray Corp., 355 U.S. 495, 2 L.Ed.2d 460; Federal Power Comm. v. Hope Natural Gas Co., 320 U.S. 591, 88 L.Ed. 333; Federal Power Comm. v. Interstate Natural Gas Co., 336 U.S. 577, 93 L.Ed. 895; Federal Power Comm. v. Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co., 337 U.S. 498, 93 L.Ed. 1499; Federal Trade Comm. v. National Gas Co., 357 U.S. 560, 2 L.Ed.2d 1540; First Nat. Bank of Memphis v. State Tax Comm., 210 Miss. 590, 49 So.2d 410; German Alliance Ins. Co. v. Lewis, 233 U.S. 389, 58 L.Ed. 1011; Great Northern R. Co. v. Merchants Elevator Co., 259 U.S. 285, 66 L.Ed. 943; Gulf S.I.R. Co. v. Ellis, 165 U.S. 150, 41 L.Ed. 666; Gulf S.I.R. Co. v. Hewes, 183 U.S. 66, 46 L.Ed. 86; Gulf S.I.R. Co. v. Mississippi R. Comm., 94 Miss. 124, 49 So. 118; Henry v. Newton Co., 203 Miss. 780, 34 So.2d 232; Houston, E. W.T.R. Co. v. United States, 234 U.S. 342, 58 L.Ed. 1341; Industrial Gas Co. v. Public Utilities Comm., 135 Ohio St. 408, 21 N.E.2d 166; Ideal Cement Co. v. United Gas Pipe Line Co., 176 F. Supp. 748, 282 F.2d 574, 6 L.Ed.2d 240; Kansas-Nebraska Natural Gas Co. v. City of St. Edward, 134 F. Supp. 809, 234 F.2d 426; Kennington v. Hemingway, 101 Miss. 259, 57 So. 809; Kentucky Whip Collar Co. v. Illinois Cent. R. Co., 299 U.S. 334, 81 L. Ed 270; Laurel, City of v. Mississippi Gas Co., 49 F.2d 219; Lewis v. Simpson, 176 Miss. 123, 167 So. 780; Louisville N.R. Co. v. State, 107 Miss. 597, 65 So. 881; Meridian, City of v. Mississippi Valley Gas Co., 214 F.2d 525; Mississippi Cottonseed Products Co. v. Stone, 184 Miss. 409, 184 So. 428; Mississippi Mills v. Cook, 56 Miss. 40; Mississippi P. L. Co. v. City of Jackson, 116 F.2d 924; Mississippi River Fuel Corp. v. Illinois Commerce Comm., 1 Ill.2d 509, 116 N.E.2d 394; Mississippi River Fuel Corp. v. Hoffman, 4 Ill.2d 268, 123 N.E.2d 503, 349 U.S. 935, 99 L.Ed. 1264; Mississippi State Tax Comm. v. Tennessee Gas Transmission Co., 239 Miss. 191, 116 So.2d 550; Munn v. Illinois, 94 U.S. 113, 24 L.Ed. 77; Nebbia v. New York, 291 U.S. 502, 78 L.Ed. 940; Orrell v. Bay Mfg. Co., 83 Miss. 800, 36 So. 561; Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co. v. Federal Power Comm., 232 F.2d 467, 337 U.S. 498, 93 L.Ed. 1499; Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co. v. Michigan Public Service Comm., 328 Mich. 650, 44 N.W.2d 324, 341 U.S. 329, 95 L.Ed. 993; Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co. v. Public Service Comm., 224 Ind. 662, 71 N.E.2d 117; Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Wisconsin, 347 U.S. 672, 98 L.Ed. 1035; Prudential Ins. Co. v. Benjamin, 328 U.S. 408, 90 L.Ed. 1342; Public Service Comm. of Utah v. United States, 356 U.S. 421, 2 L.Ed.2d 886; Public Utilities Comm. v. Colorado Interstate Gas Co., 142 Colo. 361, 351 P.2d 241; Pullman Co. v. Adams, 189 U.S. 418, 47 L.Ed. 877; Railway Express Co. v. Virginia, 358 U.S. 434, 3 L.Ed.2d 450; Richfield Oil Corp. v. Public Service Comm. of Cal. (Cal.), 354 P.2d 4; Securities Ex. Comm. v. Variable A.L. Ins. Co., 359 U.S. 65, 3 L.Ed.2d 640; Sheldon v. Mississippi Cottonseed Products Co., 81 F.2d 169; Singing River Tire Shop v. Stone (Miss.), 21 So.2d 580; Southern Counties Gas Co. of Cal. v. Public Utilities Comm. of Cal. (Cal.), 354 P.2d 4, 364 U.S. 900, 5 L.Ed. 193; Southern Natural Gas Corp. v. Alabama, 301 U.S. 148, 81 L.Ed. 970; Re South Georgia Natural Gas Co., 34 P.U.R. 3d 370; State v. Necaise, 228 Miss. 542, 87 So.2d 922; State Board of Education v. Mobile O.R. Co., 72 Miss. 236, 16 So. 489; State of N.D. v. F.P.C., 247 F.2d 173; Stone v. Farmers Loan T. Co., 116 U.S. 307, 29 L.Ed. 636; Stone v. Railroad Comm., 62 Miss. 607; Tepper Bros. v. Buttross, 178 Miss. 659, 174 So. 556; Texas P.R. Co. v. American Tie T. Co., 234 U.S. 138, 58 L.Ed. 1255; Tumey v. Ohio, 273 U.S. 510, 71 L.Ed. 749; United Gas Pipe Line Co. v. Ideal Cement Co., 176 F. Supp. 748, 282 F.2d 574, 6 L.Ed.2d 240; United Gas Pipe Line Co. v. Willmut Gas Oil Co., 231 Miss. 700, 97 So.2d 530, 100 So.2d 609, 357 U.S. 937, 2 L.Ed.2d 1550; United States v. Western P.R. Co., 352 U.S. 59, 1 L.Ed.2d 126; Yazoo M.V.R. Co. v. Adams, 180 U.S. 1, 45 L.Ed. 395; Sec. 184, Constitution 1890; 15 U.S.C.A., Secs. 717 et seq., 1011; Secs. 3444, 5817, 5828, 7716-04, 7716-36, Code 1942; Sec. 3350, Code 1906; Chap. 182, Laws 1904; 35 C.J.S. 340; 74 C.J.S. 4; 82 C.J.S., Sec. 359 p. 769.
APPELLANT IN REPLY.
I. Legislative intent cannot be ascertained by mere surmise based on "floor action" in the Mississippi House of Representatives. Day v. Hart, 232 Miss. 516, 99 So.2d 656; Dunn Construction Co. v. Craig, 191 Miss. 682, 2 So.2d 166; Mills v. Barrett, 213 Miss. 171, 56 So.2d 485; Pascagoula, City of v. Hudson, 229 Miss. 631, 91 So.2d 718; Russell v. State, 231 Miss. 176, 94 So.2d 916; Seward v. Dogan, 198 Miss. 419, 21 So.2d 292; Wilson v. Yazoo M.V.R. Co., 192 Miss. 426, 6 So.2d 313; Sec. 702, Code 1942; 50 Am. Jur., Sec. 227 p. 210; Journal of the House of the Mississippi Legislature for 1956 pp. 312, 313.
II. The direct industrial sale by appellant to the Mississippi Power Light Company was one solely in interstate commerce and the term "intrastate business and property" contained in section 4 of the Public Utilities Act does not include interstate business and property. East Ohio Gas Co. v. Tax Comm., 283 U.S. 465, 75 L.Ed. 1171, 51 S.Ct. 499; Mississippi River Fuel Corp. v. Hoffman, 4 Ill.2d 268, 123 N.E.2d 503, 349 U.S. 935, 99 L.Ed. 1264; Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Co. v. Michigan Public Service Comm., 341 U.S. 329, 95 L.Ed. 993; Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Co. v. Public Service Comm., 332 U.S. 507, 92 L.Ed. 128; Southern Natural Gas Corp. v. State of Alabama, 301 U.S. 148, 81 L.Ed. 970, 56 S.Ct. 696.
III. The filing of certificates of convenience and necessity by appellant, with the Mississippi Public Service Commission, or appellant's failure so to do, does not constitute a test of the doing of "intrastate business." Arkansas-Louisiana Gas Co. v. Department of Public Utilities, 304 U.S. 61, 81 L.Ed. 1149, 58 S.Ct. 770; East Ohio Gas Co. v. Tax Comm., supra; Federal Power Comm. v. Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Co., 337 U.S. 498, 93 L.Ed. 1499, 69 S.Ct. 1251; Illinois Natural Gas Co. v. Central Illinois Public Service Co., 314 U.S. 498, 86 L.Ed. 372, 62 S.Ct. 384; McKeigney v. Dunn Bros., Inc., 224 Miss. 762, 777, 80 So.2d 802, 81 So.2d 712, 350 U.S. 878, 943, 100 L.Ed. 775, 822, 76 S.Ct. 139, 229; Memphis Natural Gas Co. v. Beeler, 315 U.S. 649, 86 L.Ed. 1090, 62 S.Ct. 857; Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Co. v. Indiana, 332 U.S. 507, 92 L.Ed. 128; Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Co. v. Michigan Public Service Comm., supra; Pennsylvania Gas Co. v. Public Service Comm., 252 U.S. 23, 64 L.Ed. 435; Public Utilities Comm. for State of Kansas v. Landon, 249 U.S. 235, 63 L.Ed. 577; Southern Natural Gas Corp. v. State of Alabama, supra; State of Missouri ex rel Barrett v. Kansas Natural Gas Co., and Kansas Natural Gas Co. v. State of Kansas ex rel Helm (consol. cases), 265 U.S. 298, 68 L.Ed. 1027, 44 S.Ct. 544; Sec. 7716-01 et seq., Code 1942; Burns Indiana Statutes, Secs. 54-105, 54-601(a) (4), (5), 54-601(a), (b), (c); Sec. 460.502, Michigan Laws 1948.
IV. The Federal Power Commission has asserted its power to regulate sales of natural gas in interstate commerce, and this power has been recognized by various federal courts, hence the Mississippi Public Service Commission is precluded from exercising "exclusive original jurisdiction" in this field. Colorado Public Utilities Comm. v. Colorado Interstate Gas Co., 142 Colo. 361, 351 P.2d 241, 33 P.U.R. 3d 42; Michigan Gas Elec. Co. v. Federal Power Comm., 290 F.2d 374; Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Co. v. Public Service Comm. of Indiana, 332 U.S. 507, 92 L.Ed. 128, 68 S.Ct. 190; Re South Georgia Natural Gas Co., 23 F.P.C. 795, 34 P.U.R. 3d 370; Richfield Oil Corp. v. Public Utilities Comm., 6 Cal.Rptr. 548, 354 P.2d 4, 34 P.U.R. 3d 379; Southern Counties Gas Co. of Cal. v. Public Utilities Comm., 5 L.Ed.2d 193; United Gas Improvement Co. v. Federal Power Comm., 290 F.2d 133.
This is an appeal from a decree of the chancery court affirming an order of the Mississippi Public Service Commission. The order of the Commission required appellant, Texas Gas Transmission Corporation, to (1) apply to the Commission for a certificate of public convenience and necessity for any construction or operation of equipment for transmitting natural gas for direct sale to consumers within this State; (2) file a report of its gross revenues derived from the sale of natural gas to consumers in this State for the years 1955 and thereafter, and (3) to pay its prorate portion of the special tax levied on public utilities by the Public Utilities Act of 1956 (Chap. 372, Laws of 1956).
The Commission and all parties agree that the power of the Commission to enter the order depends on whether the rates charged by Texas Gas are subject to regulation by the Commission. The question for decision is: Does the Public Utility Act of 1956 (Chap. 372, Laws of 1956) grant to the Mississippi Public Service Commission power to regulate the rates on interstate pipeline company charges for direct sales made in this State for industrial use? The question is solved by applying the law to facts which are not in dispute.
Texas Gas is a natural gas company operating an inter-connected interstate gas transmission system. Its operations are certified by the Federal Power Commission under the provisions of the Natural Gas Act, 15 U.S.C.A., Sec. 717, et seq. Its rates as to sales for resale are regulated by the Federal Power Commission, but the Federal Power Commission does not regulate the rates charged by Texas Gas for direct industrial sales of natural gas. Texas Gas operates in nine states. Its pipelines transport natural gas from production areas in Texas and Louisiana through Mississippi, thence through several other States to the northeast. In the northwestern part of Mississippi, Texas Gas owns and operates facilities for delivery of gas to Mississippi Valley Gas Company, a local distribution company. This sale to Mississippi Valley Gas Company is a sale for resale and the facilities used and the rates charged are certificated and regulated by the Federal Power Commission under the provisions of the Natural Gas Act. At the same place and through part of these same facilities, Texas Gas delivers gas to the Mississippi Power and Light Company for consumption as boiler fuel in its generating plant; and it is this sale that the Mississippi Public Service Commission seeks to regulate. The facilities used in the sale and delivery of this direct industrial sale to Mississippi Power and Light Company is certificated under the provisions of the Natural Gas Act, but the rates charged by Texas Gas for the gas so sold are not regulated by the Federal Power Commission. The gas sold to Mississippi Power and Light Company is drawn from Texas Gas' interstate pipeline, but it is delivered at reduced pressure.
(Hn 1) The power of the Mississippi Public Service Commission to regulate rates of public utilities is clearly defined in the Public Utilities Act (Chap. 372, Laws of 1956, Sec. 7716-01, et seq., Miss. Code of 1942). This power is limited by the express language of the statute to intrastate business. The sale by Texas Gas to Mississippi Power and Light Company is an interstate sale. The business the Commission seeks to regulate is interstate business, and this is beyond the power of the Commission. The authorities on which our decision is based are cited in the companion case of United Gas Pipeline Corporation v. Mississippi Public Service Commission, No. 41,942, this day decided.
Reversed and judgment here for appellant.
Lee, P.J., and Kyle, McElroy and Jones, JJ., concur.