U.S. West Communications v. Public Service

This is a companion case to Stewart v. Public Service Commission, No. 910405, slip op. (July 29, 1994) (Stewart), also issued today, and it presents issues raised by U.S. West Communications, Inc. (USWC), that arise out of the same proceedings before the Public Service Commission which resulted in the Commissions Report and Order of June 19, 1991, and gave rise to the issues raised by the ratepayers in that case. We there held that the 12.2% rate of return authorized by the Commission was unlawful, that Utah Code Ann. § 54-4-4.1(2) is unconstitutional, that Utah Code Ann. § 54-4-4.1(1) incorporates cost-of-service criteria as a limitation on the types of incentive plans that may be adopted by the Commission, and that the Commissions incentive regulation plan in that case is invalid. A full statement of the underlying facts and related issues are set forth in Stewart.