Office of Public Advocate v. Public Utilities Commission

[¶ 1] At issue in the present case is the method by which the Public Utilities Commission sets the rates that telephone companies may charge their ratepayers. Specifically, we are called upon to determine whether the Legislature intended to authorize the Commission to approve alternative forms of rate regulation without making a good faith attempt to compare the rates obtainable under those regulations with the rates that would be projected under traditional rate-of-return proceedings.. [¶ 2] The Office of Public Advocate and the American Association of Retired Persons challenge the…