antitrust lawsuit against Florida Power & Light Co. (FP&L), alleging that FP&L denied equal access to its electric transmission network. FMPA represents 10 municipal utilities, which pay FP&L for access to transmission lines. FMPA claims that FP&L violated antitrust laws by restricting network access and inflating access costs. FP&L says it offered transmission access to the municipalities, but the parties cannot agree on a price. FP&L says that FMPA wants large discounts that would force FP&L customers to subsidize municipal operations. In December 1993, a federal district court ruled in favor of FP&L, finding that the filed-rate doctrine barred an antitrust lawsuit. But a federal appeals court has sent the case to a trial court for examination of the differences between network and point-to-point service. t
Lori A. Burkhart is an associate legal editor of PUBLIC UTILITIES FORTNIGHTLY.
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