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Mr. Wm. Reinhardt: Page 2 Sept. 3, 1948 Pile: 80 The 1909 franchise above referred to was, as I have stated, under a then existing statute of the State of Nevada which limited the operations of water and other public utilities to unincorporated towns and cities and pursuant to that franchise our operations were incorporated town of Las Vegas .specifically limited to the unThe permit of 1930 does not contain such legal limitations but is granted only with respect to the streets etc. of the City of Las Vegas and for the purpose of supplying the inhabitants of this city with water. There is no legal restriction in that permit which would prohibit our going outside of the City of Las Vegas if we so desire. If the company can be compelled to extend its operations beyond the city limits, such compulsion must come by order of the Nevada Public Service Commission to which there is no doubt we are subject. The question arises therefore, as to whether the Commission could compel us to so extend our operations when for a period of approximately 40 years, we have confined such operations first, to. the unincorporated town of Las Vegas and second, within the municipal boundaries of the City of Las Vega The general principle of the law which is pretty well accepted throughout the United States, is that the obligation of a public utility to serve the public is limited by the extent of the provision or undertaking by the utility to serve the public. To require a public utility to devote its property to a service which it has never professed to render, or to the service of a territory which it has never undertaken to serve, is tantamount to taking that property for public use without just compensation. I have not been able to find any Nevada cases on this subject but desire to refer you briefly to one of the leading cases in California where the factual situation was quite a bit similar to the one we have before us, the case being Del Mar Water Light & Power Company vs Eshelman. 167 Calif. 666. In that case, the real estate organization organdiizveids itohne atnodwn laotfe Dre li nMcaorr pofroart etdh e tphue rpDeols eM aorf aW atreera,l Leisgthatt e ansdubPower Company for the primary purpose of supplying water, light