Sumter Elec. Membership Corp. v. Georgia Power Co.

O.C.G.A. § 46-3-4 4 did not apply to this case because, by the plain meaning of the statute, corridor rights apply only when two suppliers owned lines in an area at the time of assignment to a pre-dominant supplier, and the power company owned all the lines in the area at the time of assignment.

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In 1973 the legislature enacted the Georgia Territorial Electric Service Act OCGA § 46-3-1 et seq. to provide a mechanism for assigning territories to electrical suppliers. Under the act, the Public Service Commission PSC was authorized to assign territories according to specific statutory criteria. In 1975 the PSC assigned the territory around Leesburg, Georgia to Georgia Power Company. In 2002 Georgia Power learned that Sumter Electric Membership Corporation Sumter intended to provide electricity to two office buildings near Leesburg. The buildings lie within Georgia Power’s assigned service area, but within 500 feet of an electrical transmission line which Georgia Power sold in 1982 to a predecessor of Sumter.1

Georgia Power petitioned the PSC to stop Sumter from providing electrical service to the office buildings, claiming it has exclusive rights to serve customers in the area. Sumter asserted it had a “corridor right” to service the buildings based on its ownership of the transmission line. The PSC ruled in favor of Sumter and the trial court affirmed that decision. The Court of Appeals reversed. Georgia Power Co. v. Georgia Public Service Comm. , 296 Ga. App. 556 675 SE2d 294 2009. This Court granted certiorari and posed this question: Whether the Court of Appeals erred in its interpretation of OCGA § 46-3-4 4.

Sumter Elec. Membership Corp. v. Georgia Power Co.

O.C.G.A. § 46-3-4 4 did not apply to this case because, by the plain meaning of the statute, corridor rights apply only when two suppliers owned lines in an area at the time of assignment to a pre-dominant supplier, and the power company owned all the lines in the area at the time of assignment.

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