MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS - IMPLIED POWER TO SELL APPLIANCES AS INCIDENTAL TO POWER TO OPERATE MUNICIPAL LIGHT PLANT

A Massachusetts statute authorized municipalities to "construct, purchase or lease, and maintain . . . one or more plants for the manufacture or distribution of gas or electricity for municipal use, or for the use of its inhabitants." Pursuant to this statute the town of Concord contracted with the Edison Electric Company of Boston to supply the municipal light plant with electrical energy for distribution by the latter to local consumers. In order to take advantage of a lower rate to enable it to meet the competition of a privately owned gas company, the municipality sought to increase consumption by selling electric appliances to its residents as distributor for various manufacturers and wholesalers. A suit was brought by several taxpayers to enjoin the municipal officers from continuing this "load-building program." The court granted the injunction on the ground that authorization for the undertaking was not expressed in the statute, and was not impliable from the express powers delegated. McRae v. Selectmen of the Town of Concord, (Mass.

1937) 6 N. E. (2d) 366.