💡 Pensacola Natural Gas Franchise Fee Settlement

The lawsuit alleges the City improperly charged franchise fees and related utility service taxes to natural gas customers whose service addresses were inside the Pensacola city limits.

Residential and business natural gas customers of the City of Pensacola with a service address inside city limits at any time from August 6, 2011 to the present. Current customers are paid automatically (no action needed); FORMER customers must submit a claim form to receive payment.

varies (pro rata share of the $12.6M fund based on the franchise fees each customer was billed since Aug 6, 2011)

None

The case, Eric L. Frank v. City of Pensacola, No. 2015 CA 001298, was litigated in the Circuit Court for Escambia County, Florida before Judge Jan Shackelford, and settled under an agreement dated May 22, 2025 that the court approved by final judgment in July 2025. The City agreed to a $12,600,000 settlement fund and was enjoined from continuing to charge the fees; it denies wrongdoing, maintaining its staff was authorized to pass the franchise fees to customers and that the charges did not violate Florida's tax-preemption doctrine. Kroll Settlement Administration is the court-appointed administrator; payments to current Pensacola Energy customers began July 30, 2025, and notices telling former customers how to file claims were mailed on August 11, 2025.