Far North Sanitation, Inc. v. Alaska Public Utilities Commission

OPINION

RABINOWITZ, Chief Justice.

I. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS.

Far North Sanitation, Inc. (Far North) is a garbage collection company located in Fairbanks (City). It operates both inside and outside the city limits. Before 1980, the Alaska Public Utilities Commission (APUC) regulated Far North’s rates only for garbage collection outside the City’s limits. Similarly, the collection rates of Far North’s competitor, Marche Sanitation (Marche), who operated only within the City’s limits, were unregulated.

In 1980 the legislature extended APUC’s jurisdiction to include garbage collectors inside…