Pacific Gas Transmission Company v. Federal Power Commission, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Ner

There is a certain attractiveness, I must admit, to the FPC’s decision in this case; after all, the Commission simply has required petitioner PGT to do what most other gas companies must do before increasing their rates: give the FPC thirty days notice of the proposed increase so that the Commission can perform its statutory mandate to assure that the rates are “just and reasonable.” But an appealing decision is not a reasoned decision, one which explains the basis for reaching the two necessary legal conclusions to support amendment of a tariff: (1) an existing condition has become “unjust,…