Florida Statutes 366.98 – Public utility liability arising out of emergencies and disasters
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Terms Used In Florida Statutes 366.98
- Commission: means the Florida Public Service Commission. See Florida Statutes 366.02
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Public utility: means every person, corporation, partnership, association, or other legal entity and their lessees, trustees, or receivers supplying electricity or gas (natural, manufactured, or similar gaseous substance) to or for the public within this state; but the term "public utility" does not include either a cooperative now or hereafter organized and existing under the Rural Electric Cooperative Law of the state; a municipality or any agency thereof; any dependent or independent special natural gas district; any natural gas transmission pipeline company making only sales or transportation delivery of natural gas at wholesale and to direct industrial consumers; any entity selling or arranging for sales of natural gas which neither owns nor operates natural gas transmission or distribution facilities within the state; or a person supplying liquefied petroleum gas, in either liquid or gaseous form, irrespective of the method of distribution or delivery, or owning or operating facilities beyond the outlet of a meter through which natural gas is supplied for compression and delivery into motor vehicle fuel tanks or other transportation containers, unless such person also supplies electricity or manufactured or natural gas. See Florida Statutes 366.02
(1) A public utility is not liable for damages based in whole or in part on changes in the reliability, continuity, or quality of utility services which arise in any way out of an emergency or disaster, including, but not limited to, a state of emergency declared under s. 252.36. Consistent with the commission‘s jurisdiction over public utility rates and service, issues relating to the sufficiency of a public utility’s disaster preparedness and response shall be resolved by the commission.
(2) This section does not create a new cause of action. In the event that there is a conflict between this section and any other section of the Florida Statutes, this section shall control.