Incorporated Town of Mapleton v. Iowa Public Service Co.

The case is the first of its kind to come before ns. The plaintiff is an incorporated town. The defendant has a franchise to operate its utility therein. In February, 1928, the city council adopted an ordinance known as No. 172, which fixed a graduated scale of rates to be charged by the utility company. This ordinance provided a rate of 13 cents per kilowatt for the first 25 units, with a graduated scale at lower rates for larger quantities. For the purpose of our discussion, we need only to consider the 13-eent rate. Nor need we set forth the details of the ordinance in other respects. The…