Ruling raises Belleair hopes

A Seminole County judge says a city there has a right to buy Florida Power's equipment. Belleair hopes for the same outcome.

By DEBORAH O'NEIL

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 23, 2000

A court ruling from an Orlando suburb has officials in the town of Belleair encouraged about their chances of winning a lawsuit against Florida Power Corp.

A Seminole County judge found that the city of Casselberry has an "absolute right" to buy all of Florida Power's lines and equipment in the city -- a point the company has disputed. Judge Debra Nelson ordered the two sides to arbitration to determine a purchase price.

Florida Power is facing a similar legal challenge in Pinellas Circuit Court from Belleair, which sued to get a court determination of whether Belleair has the right to buy Florida Power's system in the town. The outcome of the lawsuit will be a key factor in whether Belleair continues to consider creating a municipally run electric utility, an idea Casselberry is also exploring.

"It's identical circumstances, identical language," said Belleair Town Manager Steve Cottrell. "It would be hard to imagine a judge ruling any differently."

The ruling has also caught the attention of Dunedin officials, who have examined the idea of starting a municipal electric utility but decided not to join Belleair in the lawsuit. Dunedin City Manager John Lawrence said the city might join the Casselberry suit if Florida Power appeals. And, he said, Dunedin still may decide to join the Belleair lawsuit.

"This has really piqued our interest," Lawrence said. "This strengthens our ability to go down the same path."

But Florida Power officials downplayed the significance of the Casselberry decision.

"It's important to recognize the decision in Casselberry does not bind courts in Pinellas to reach the same conclusion," said Florida Power spokeswoman Mary Estes. "The impact is completely neutral, and it should be neither discouraging nor encouraging."

Estes said the judge's ruling does not actually authorize Casselberry to buy the system because that is not written in her order. Instead, the "absolute right to purchase the electric utility system" is written as a court finding.

"It's not incorporated in her order and there's a distinction," Estes said. "The court order simply directs the parties to arbitrate the price."

Orlando utility lawyer Tom Cloud, who is helping to handle Casselberry's case, called that interpretation of the ruling disingenuous.

"The order is clear: We have a right," Cloud said. "You don't order someone to arbitrate a purchase price unless there's an option to buy."

Cloud said the ruling is the first of its kind against Florida Power.

"It's very significant," Cloud said. "It dispels the nonsense."

Belleair Town Attorney Joel Tew said Casselberry and Belleair have the same language in their contracts with Florida Power that allows for the buyout when the contracts expire. And while the ruling is not binding, Belleair will present it in court, he said.

"Obviously we think it's a very enlightened ruling and it's accurate," Tew said. "We'll be making the same substantive arguments made in the Casselberry case. We're pretty confident when the law is applied the result will be exactly the same as Casselberry."

The ruling is guaranteed to face appeals by Florida Power, which has said from the start that the company's system is not for sale and that the buyout options were invalidated by the state Legislature in the 1970s.

But Judge Nelson found that Florida Power entered into franchise agreements with purchase options as late as 1984 and agreed to extend the city of Maitland's purchase option in 1999.

-- Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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