Norfolk Southern Railway Co. v. Public Utility Commission

OPINION

Justice SAYLOR.

This appeal concerns the limits of the Public Utility Commission’s authority to allocate costs associated with a rail-highway crossing project. We consider the Commonwealth Court’s holding that the Commission may not allocate costs to a transportation utility which regularly uses a crossing site in railroad operations but does not own real property or facilities there.

I. Background

Per Section 2702(a) of the Public Utility Code, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (the “PUC” or the “Commission”) has jurisdiction over construction, alteration, relocation,…