Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation v. Federal Power Commission

WATERMAN, Circuit Judge:

The Genesee River rises in the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania and flows northward for 158 miles through New York State to Lake Ontario. Petitioner operates three hydroelectric projects on a stretch of rapids and falls in Rochester, New York, six miles from the mouth of the river. It maintains a fourth power project in Mount Morris, New York, on another turbulent stretch of the river sixty-five miles from the mouth.

Petitioner requested the Federal Power Commission to issue an order declaring that these projects did not have to be licensed under Section 23(b) of the…