In the case of Dayton Power & Light Co. v. Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, 1933, the U.S Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a state public utilities commission had overstepped its authority by ordering a power company to provide service to an area that already had electricity provided by another utility company. The court ruled in favor of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio stating that it did not exceed its jurisdiction and acted within constitutional bounds when it ordered Dayton Power & Light Company to extend its services into areas where Cincinnati Gas & Electric Company was already providing electric service. The court held that there is no exclusive right or privilege for any one utility provider and competition between providers can be beneficial for consumers as long as they are regulated properly by state commissions.

In the dissenting opinion for Dayton Power & Light Co. v. Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, the justice argued that the Supreme Court should not have interfered with a state's right to regulate its own public utilities. The justice believed that there was no violation of due process or equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment as claimed by Dayton Power & Light Co., and therefore, it was inappropriate for federal courts to intervene in this case. They contended that states should be allowed to manage their own affairs without interference from federal authorities unless there is clear evidence of constitutional violations which they did not find present in this case.