The Tennessee Public Service Commission, also called Tennessee Railroad and Public Utilities Commission, was a three-member elected body which regulated private utilities, trucking firms, and railroads within the state of Tennessee. It was dissolved in 1996 when its functions were transferred to the Tennessee Regulatory Authority.
The body consisted of three commissioners, one from each of the state's three "Grand Divisions" (East, Middle, and West Tennessee). While one member of the body was required to be from each Grand Division, each was elected on a statewide basis to staggered six-year terms, resulting in the election of one commissioner in each even-numbered year. This body was somewhat less powerful than some similar bodies in most other states in that, with the exception of the Kingsport area, it had no jurisdiction over electric rates since the vast majority of the state received its power from the Tennessee Valley Authority, which as part of the federal government was not subject to state regulation.
Read more about Tennessee Public Service Commission: History
Famous quotes containing the words public, service and/or commission:
“Alexander Woollcott broadcasts the story of the wife who returned a dog to the Seeing Eye with this note attached: “I am sending the dog back. My husband used to depend on me. Now he is independent, and I never know where he is.””
—For the State of New Jersey, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“The true courage of civilized nations is readiness for sacrifice in the service of the state, so that the individual counts as only one amongst many. The important thing here is not personal mettle but aligning oneself with the universal.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“A sense of humour keen enough to show a man his own absurdities as well as those of other people will keep a man from the commission of all sins, or nearly all, save those that are worth committing.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)