The Commission shall have power to issue said certificate as prayed for or to refuse to issue the same or to issue it for the construction, operation or acquisition of a portion only of the contemplated territory. No certificate shall be issued until the expiration of thirty (30) days from the date of the first publication of notice, nor shall any certificate be issued without hearing unless no protest is filed to the granting of the certificate by any interested party within such thirty-day period. In the event such protest is filed, then the Commission shall set the matter for public hearing; however, in the event no protest is filed, the Commission may, at its discretion, forthwith issue the certificate as prayed for or set the matter for public hearing on its own motion.