Appeals Court Holds FP&L Immune From QF Antitrust Complaints

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit has ruled that Florida Power and Light Co. (FP&L) is protected by the state action immunity doctrine from liability to cogenerators (QFs) for alleged antitrust violations. The QFs had claimed that FP&L violated federal antitrust laws when it refused to wheel their power to offsite end users. The court also ruled that FP&L was protected against additional antitrust claims arising for opposing a QF proposal before the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) to construct a separate transmission line to serve the offsite customers.