Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission of New York

This case presented the question whether a regulation of the Public Service Commission of the State of New York violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments because it completely banned promotional advertising by an electrical utility. In 1973, the Commission found out that the interconnected utility system in New York State did not have sufficient fuel stocks or sources of supply to continue supplying all customers for the 1973-1974 winter. Therefore, it ordered electric utilities in New York State to stop all advertising that promoted the use of electricity. Even though three years later the fuel shortage had eased, the Commission extended the prohibition. Appellant Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. opposed the ban stating that it violated the First Amendment. The Supreme Court emphasized that although the Constitution accorded a lesser protection to commercial speech than to other constitutionally guaranteed expression, nevertheless the First Amendment protected commercial speech from unwarranted governmental regulation. It held that the Commission’s regulation, which reached all promotional advertising, regardless of the impact of the touted service on overall energy use, was more extensive than necessary to further the State’s interest in energy conservation. Energy conservation interests, as important as they were, could not justify suppressing information about electric devices or services that would cause no net increase in total energy use.