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(d) Theprovisions of, the Election Code relating to notice <br />and conduct of the election shall be followed to the extent <br />practicable. Costs of the referendum election shall be borne <br />by the affected municipal electric utility. <br />(e) If a majority of the affected municipal electric <br />utility's retail electric customersvote in favor of creating <br />a separate electric utility authority, the affected municipal <br />electric utility shall, no later thanJanuary 15, 2009, <br />provide to each member of the Legislature whose district <br />includes any portion of the electric service territory of the <br />affected municipal electric utility a proposed charter that <br />transfers operations of its electric, water, and' sewer <br />utility businesses to a duly -created authority,' the governing <br />board'of which shall proportionally represent the number of <br />county and city ratepayers of the electric utility. <br />Section 37, Laws of Florida, Chapter 2008-227. <br />The specific Commission orders that are directly applicable to <br />the City's right to provide retail electric servicein its existing <br />service area are the Commiss'ion's, Territorial Orders identified above. <br />Legal Issues <br />Ultimately, the Town's and County's complaints ground in their <br />desire for lower .electric rates..• For example, the Town's <br />representatives have repeatedly stated that; if the City cannot <br />provide 'service at the rates charged by FPL', the Town intends - <br />assuming that it has the legal right and power to do so - to evict the <br />City from the Town and thereafter to either set up its own electric <br />utility or to choose another supplier. Similarly, the 'County has <br />asked the PSC to declare that once the franchise agreement between the <br />City and the County expires in 2017; the territorial ,,agreements <br />approved •by the PSC will become invalid, and that there will be no <br />limitations on the County's ability to grant another'successor utility <br />an exclusive franchise to serve where the City now provides service in <br />the unincorporated areas of.the County. Petition at 31. The•County <br />also complains that the City's rates are higher than FPL's, Petition <br />at 21-22, and about the City's transfer of 6 percent of its electric <br />revenues to the City's General Fund. Petition at'21. <br />Contrary to the Town's and 'County's positions, the Florida PSC <br />has "exclusive and superior jurisdiction" over what utilities serve in <br />what areas, and the existence, absence, or expiration of a franchise <br />agreement is irrelevant to the PSC's jurisdiction and to the City's <br />right and obligation to serve in its PSC -approved service area. <br />8 <br />a3 <br />