City of Akron v. Public Utilities Commission

I must respectfully dissent from the majority opinion.

I

This case represents the end of the reproduction cost new less depreciation (RCNLD) era in Ohio, the last state to adhere to this formula as the sole measure of determining utility rates.

Ohio’s method of fixing rates had its origin in the ancient doctrine espoused by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1898,3 repudiated by that court in 1942; however, it lives on to haunt public utility regulation in Ohio. That doctrine is based on the rationale that fixing of rates is akin to the exercise of the power of eminent domain.4 Of course,…