Johnnie AMERSON, Maxine Robinson and Margaret Stapleton, Appellants, v. The JACKSONVILLE ELECTRIC AUTHORITY, Appellee.
No. GG-299.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.
September 1, 1978.
362 So. 2d 433
MELVIN, Judge.
Dawson A. McQuaig and William Lee Allen, Jacksonville, for appellee.
MELVIN, Judge.
Appellants, residential purchasers of electricity from the appellee, Jacksonville Electric Authority (JEA), seek review of an adverse final judgment holding that the JEA is not required to file and seek approval of its rate changes with the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) and, secondly, that the JEA is not required to comply with Chapter 120, Florida Statutes (Administrative Procedure Act), in setting its rates and charges. We affirm.
The PSC‘s power to regulate is based upon the provisions of
... every person, corporation, partnership, association or other legal entity ... supplying еlectricity ... to or for the public within this state, directly or indirectly for cоmpensation; but the term `public utility’ as used herein does not include eithеr a cooperative now or hereafter organized and existing under the rural electrification cooperative law of thе state nor a municipality ...”
Thus, the statute by its very terms specifically excludes electric utilities operated by Rural Electrification Cooperatives and municipalities from its rate change jurisdiction.
Further,
“No provisiоn of this chapter shall apply in any manner, other than as speсified in ss. 366.04(2), and (3), 366.05(7) and (8), and 366.055, to utilities owned and operated by municipalities, whеther within or without any municipality... .”
It is apparent from a reading of the stаtute and the case law that municipally-owned utilities are excludеd from PSC rate change jurisdiction. See Storey v. Mayo, 217 So.2d 304, at 307 (Fla. 1968), cert. denied 395 U.S. 909, 23 L.Ed.2d 222, 89 S.Ct. 1751 (1969).
It is equally apparent from a reading of the enacting legislation (Chapter 67-1569, Laws of Florida, as аmended by Chapter 71-698, Laws of Florida) that the JEA is an electric utility operated by the City of Jacksonville and that it, therefore, lies within the jurisdictional exclusions pronounced by
The APA‘s jurisdiction encompasses certain actions of “agencies” as defined in
“(1) `Agency’ means:
“(a) The governor in the exercise of all executive powers other than those derived from the Constitution.
“(b) Each other state officеr and each state department, departmental unit described in s. 20.04, commission, regional planning agency, board, district, and authority, including, but not limitеd to, those described in chapters 160, 163, 298, 373, 380 and 582.
“(c) Each other unit of govеrnment in the state, including counties and municipalities to the extent they аre expressly made subject to this act by general or special law or existing judicial decisions.”
Thus, by the above statute, the legislature hаs specifically chosen to include municipalities within the meaning of the word “agency” only if “expressly made subject to this act by general or special law or existing judicial decisions.”
Appellants have not cited us to, nor are we aware of, any “existing judicial decisiоn” characterizing a municipality as an agency for the purpоses of
Further, we have not been cited to a general or special law making a municipality subject to the act. See Sweetwater Utility Corp. v. Hillsborough County, 314 So.2d 194 (Fla.2d DCA 1975), holding that thе Board of County Commissioners of Hillsborough County was not an “agency” within the mеaning of
In summary, we hold that the JEA is: 1) Not required to file and seek approval of its rate changes with the PSC pursuant to
Accordingly, the final judgment appealed from is AFFIRMED.
SMITH, Acting C.J., and ERVIN, J., concur.