Wednesday, August 27, 2003
Florida Power Corp. v. City of Winter Park

no. 02-2272
Orange County

In 1913 Winter Park built the current electrical system that serves its residents. This system was sold in 1927 to a company later acquired by Florida Power. The original agreement provided that the purchaser would pay a percentage of its receipts to Winter Park and also allowed the city to buy back the electrical system when the agreement expired. Extensions of this agreement were made over the years on similar terms. When the agreement reached its most recent expiration date, Florida Power would not agree to any extension allowing the city to buy back the electrical system. Winter Park then sued to force Florida Power to sell the system under the terms of the now expired agreement. The city also moved to continue to collect its percentage of receipts. The trial court ruled that the city could continue to collect this percentage until the other legal issues were resolved, and the Fifth District Court affirmed.