Corsicana Daily Sun from Corsicana, Texas • Page 7

8A WEDNESDAY. AUGUST 31,1977 CORSICANA DAILY SUN PUC taking authority in stride By JIM DAVIS Harte Hanks Auitln Bureaa AUSTIN On Sept. 1 the Public Utilities Commission will get its final authority provided by law to accept original rate making jurisdiction from Texas cities but around the commission the event is treated with a big yawn. The state's municipal officials apparently feel the same way. No one is standing in line to turn utility rate decisions directly over to the commission at least not yet.

"I don't think very many have contacted us on this at all," Phillip Ricketts, PUC hearings examiner, said. Officials of a few small towns have called to inquire about the over on telephone operations statewide and utilities outside city limits. Also, after that date utilities could appeal to the commission for relief if a city turned down a rate increase request. The nervousness proved well founded as the complex Southwestern Bell Telephone rate case was dumped on the commission immediately along with a truckload of supporting documents. Then came several tough electrical rate cases.

Some city councils decided it was easy and politically safe to turn down rate requests and let them be appealed to Austin. Assumption of power in steps was provided by the 1975 legislature to allow the commission to walk before it had to run. THE WAY things worked out the past year, however, operations have been going full steam at the PUC already. That's why the commission would not be affected much by towns turning over rate making authority after Sept. 1.

The commission decided it had to look at a utility's entire operation before it could decide what would be a fair rate for a rural area or In a municipality in a case being appealed. For example, in the first major electrical rate dispute, Involving Central Power and Oil heads east through Panama Canal Witnesses say Robinson spoke ill of Dr. Hill barrels of oil into the British Resolution, part of which was reloaded into the smaller Washington Trader, since the supertankers cannot traverse the Panama Canal. The large supertankers will act as temporary terminals until a mainland oil terminal can be constructed by Northville Industries. (APWirephoto) Washington Trader, foreground, a 44,000 ton tanker, sits alongside supertanker MV British Resolution, center, Sunday in the bBay of Parita, about 65 miles from the Panama Canal.

At top of picture is the supertanker SS New York, which was just arriving with the first Alaskan oil destined for the United States East and Gulf coasts. The New York pumped about 1.8 million oil moves through canal "Once the Alaskan crude has transited the canal, it could be transferred again into a bigger ship," said Norris. "But there Just aren't any Gulf Coast porta large enough to handle those big tankers. So the oil continues on up in the smaller tankers." CRAFTEX PORTABLE BUILDINGS Can Solve Any And All Your Storage Problems HOUSTON (AP) A witness has testified in civil court he heard millionaire oilman Ash Robinson say his son in law, Dr. John Hill, "should not be alive." Another witness testified she heard Robinson say he was "going to nail him (Hill) to the wall." They testified Tuesday in the trial of a $7.6 million suit resulting from the 1972 death of Hill, a plastic surgeon.

Hill's mother, widow and son are suing Robinson, alleging Robinson arranged Hill's death in revenge for the death of Robinson's daughter. At the time he was shot to death at his plush River Oaks home, Hill was awaiting trial on a charge he killed his first wife, Joan Robinson Hill, through medical neglect in 1969. No criminal charges have been filed against Robinson and his attorneys deny the allegations by Myra Hill, 75, Connie Hill, 37, and Robert Hill, 17. Sylvester Freeman, a Houston tree surgeon, told the jury and Civil District Court Judge Arthur Lesher he heard Robinson lash out against Hill on three occasions, including one time at the cemetery when Joan Hill was about to be buried. He said he witnessed Robinson stare "viciously" at Hill during the prayer at the ce memtery and say, "Dr.

Hill killed my daughter." He testified he was at the gravesite two weeks later and DDI $135 million in tolls collected by the canal company in 1976. The Overseas Valdez is carrying the first load of North Slope oil through the canal. It is one of 19 tankers with capacities between 33,000 and 55,000 tons that will be used on the run. "We expect about one and a third transits a day," said Richard Wainio, an economist with the canal company's planning office. "Two hundred thousand barrels daily means four transits every three days, two laden and two ballast, to ship about 10.4 million tons of oil annually." The North Slope oil is shipped down from Valdez, Alaska, aboard tankers too big to get through the canal, put aboard a bigger storage tanker anchored off the Pacific end of the waterway, and then pumped into a smaller tanker for the trip to the refinery.

The University College at Buckingham, with an enrollment of about 160 students, is Britain's only privately financed university. All others are funded by the government Light Co. and its South and West Texas customers, only rural areas and a few small towns were involved directly. But the commission looked at the entire CPL system and determined everyone's "fair" share. Some CPL customers didn't like the rate increase approved, however, and appealed to an Austin district court for relief.

That case may end up being a landmark in Texas utility law. SINCE THE commission already is looking at cases systemwide, Morris thinks things might be easier if most Texas cities voluntarily turn over their rate making authority after Sept. 1. The system now produces a confusing patchwork of original jurisdiction in some parts of the state and appellate jurisdiction in others. If many cities choose to turn over rate making duties, Morris believes, things could be less confusing.

The only surrendering of authority probably will be In electrical rate cases. Many cities have their own water and sewer services and are unlikely to let the state determine what they can charge. And the PUC has no authority over natural gas prices which drive up electrical costs. The legislature left natural gas regulation with the Texas Railroad Commission. 4Li KDS 18 Trade now! August 31! iv Arl 1 i iTE HOME MANUFACTURING CIVIC RETAIL OFFICE CRAFTEX PORTABLE BUILDINGS NORTH HIGHWAY 75 NEXT TO ADAM HATS Phone 872 4981 situation and have been told to come back after Sept.

1, Ricketts said. What if a large number of cities suddenly appear next month to pass the buck on utility decisions to the commission? "I REALLY don't think it would cause us any problems at all, frankly," commission chairman Garrett Morris said. He said there would be some added paperwork but no major staffing problems. Ricketts agreed. This ho hum attitude con trasts sharply with the nervousness around the commission just one year ago as Sept.

1 approached. On that date the young commission received original jurisdiction on another occasion at Robin son's home when Robinson made other comments about Hill. "He said it if cost him every penny he had he would see him (Hill) in prison," Freeman testified. He said later the state ment became stronger and Robinson said that Hill "should not be alive." The seven man, five woman jury heard the testimony but were told by Lesher not to report back until Thursday as attorneys will spend today arguing points of law. Carol Scott, another witness, testified that as a secretary to a Houston columnist in 1968 shortly after Joan Hill's death, she saw Robinson for the first time.

She said he delivered a picture of John and Joan Hill which the columnist wanted and told her, "This is my son in law and I'm going to nail him to the wall." Earlier, Connie Hill told the jury how her husband was shot to death by a masked gunman at their home. She told of frequent visits to a psychiatrist in the months following her husband's death. She said Robert also has been seeing a psychiatrist since his father's death. The teenager sat silently within 15 feet of his grandfather in the packed courtroom. At one juncture he glanced at the gray haired man sitting attentively fidgeting with his walking cane.

dures required by the Admi mlntrative Procedure and Texas Register Act. Former Texas Atty. Gen. Waggoner Carr, Yarbrough's attorney, asked the Supreme Court Tuesday for permission to file the petition for injunction and restraining order. The Court asked the State Bar to reply to the permission to file motion by Thursday.

The court is expected to consider the motion in a closed conference after receiving the bar's answer. Yarbrough resigned from the Texas Supreme Court June 15. He also has been indicted on forgery and perjury charges by a Travis County grand jury. $329.00 N. MAIN Alaskan BALBOA, C.Z.

(AP) Oil from Alaska's North Slope starts moving through the Panama Canal today, but the canal's chief planner says pipelines probably will take over the traffic eventually. The Panama Canal Company expects tankers to take oil from the Trans Alaska pipeline through the canal to refineries in Houston, Baton Rouge, and other ports at the rate of 200,000 barrels a day. But "this is only an interim arrangement," said Hugh Nor ris, the chief of the Panama Canal Executive Planning Staff. "Alternatives will be developed, and a pipeline from Alaska to the Midwest would probably be more economical than shipping through the canal." He also cited the proposal to convert the natural gas pipeline from Long Beach, to Midland, to carry the North Slope crude. "But that's currently tied up with environmental groups in California," he added.

Norris said the oil companies will pay 12 to IS cents a barrel or about $15 million a year in canal transit tolls. That will be an per cent increase in the BREAD CAKE CHIPS COOKIES CANDY MR 1 Yarbrough fighting disbarment Nuclear Africa This is a general view of South Africa's nuclear reactor at Pelindaba nuclear research center, some 35 miles west of Pretoria, the capital of South Africa. The country's Finance Minister Owen P.F. Horwood told his party's provincial congress on Tuesday that South Africa stands by its assurance that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes but it also reserves the right to use its potential for other than peaceful purposes. (APWirephoto) WONDER HOSTESS BAKERY THRIFT SHOP INTRODUCTORY OFFER pREMODEL NOWr AUSTIN, Tex.

(AP) Former Texas Supreme Court Justice Donald B. Yarbrough has asked the Texas Supreme Court to block his scheduled Sept. 9 Houston trial in a disbarment suit. Yarbrough asked the high court Tuesday for a temporary restraining order and writ of prohibition that would prevent Judge Bert H. Tunks from trying the disbarment suit in Houston's 113th District Court.

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