Sparks are flying between energy giant Florida Power & Light Co. and telecommunications titan AT&T Florida—and not the good kind.

In a breach of contract lawsuit transferred to federal court Monday, FPL claims AT&T Florida owes nearly $20 million for using 420,000 of its utility poles in 2018 and 2019. Both companies own thousands of Florida utility poles that supply electricity, telephone and internet services to customers.

Under an agreement that's been in place since 1975, each party has allowed the other to use its poles for distributing services in overlapping territories, which include Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. By doing that, they've avoided duplicating efforts by having to build and maintain extra utility poles.

But the lawsuit claims AT&T Florida—or BellSouth Telecommunications LLC, as it's formally known—owes $9.2 million from 2017 and $10.5 million from 2018. With interest, FPL says that's a debt of more than $20 million. AT&T Florida allegedly hasn't explained why it missed the payments and has continued to use its poles without authorization, according to court pleadings.

Plaintiff FPL is based in Palm Beach County and is the largest energy company in the U.S., based on the amount of electricity it produces and sells, while Texas-based AT&T is one of the biggest telecommunications companies in the world.

It appears to be the first contractual hiccup the duo has had in 44 years, based on documents attached to the complaint.

Harvey W. Gurland, Jr., Duane Morris. Photo: J. Albert Diaz/ALM. Harvey W. Gurland, Jr. Photo: J. Albert Diaz/ALM.

AT&T and its counsel, Harvey W. Gurland of Duane Morris in Miami, did not respond to requests for comment before deadline.

The complaint, which originated in Palm Beach Circuit Court, claims the plaintiff took away AT&T Florida's right to attach equipment to FPL's utility poles in March over the late payment, but it continued to use them anyway.

FPL accuses the defendant of trespassing on its property and claims it can't remove the attachments because they require the expertise of AT&T technicians. Even if it could remove them, FPL says that would cause irreparable harm to the defendant's customers.

The lawsuit asks the court to order AT&T Florida to detach from the poles, arguing that if it doesn't, FPL would suffer damages from irreparable harm to its relationship with customers and government officials, who've already asked that the abandoned poles be removed.

“injunctive relief from this court is the only way to avoid a multiplicity of suits, which will otherwise occur if AT&T Florida does not remove its attachments,” the complaint said.

Under the agreement, FPL abandoned 5,230 of its poles to AT&T after it refused to detach from them. The defendant denies responsibility for the poles, but FPL asked the court to recognize them as AT&T's.

Miami attorney Alvin B. Davis of Squire Patton Boggs is handling the plaintiff's case with Charles B. Bennett Jr. and Joseph Ianno Jr. of FPL in Juno Beach. They deferred comment to FPL spokesperson Bill Orlove, who claimed AT&T had tried to reduce its bill and sent only a partial payment.

“Contract agreements that have stood for more than 40 years don't suddenly become null and void just because AT&T has decided it would like to pay less,” Orlove said. “FPL is fully prepared to defend our customers' interests and we'll continue to pay our bills, in full, and work every day to ensure that Florida's energy grid remains the strongest, most resilient in America—unlike AT&T who prefers to breach contracts and play games with FPL customers' money.”

U.S. District Judge Robin L. Rosenberg is presiding over the case.

Read the complaint:

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