Jackson County-Marianna city officials are moving ahead with possible legal action against Florida Public Utilities.

City Commissioners authorized the request for an attorney's help during Tuesday night's commission meeting.

It's the latest move in a running battle that began late last year.

That's when FPU went before the Public Service Commission requesting a 13.8% rate hike.

The increase went into effect in January, which saw record freezing temperatures.

That resulted in some residential utility bills that approached $1,000.

The attorney will advise city officials on their service agreement with FPU.

The electric franchise has until February to establish 'off peak' and 'interruptible electric' discount rates for business customers.

Marianna City Manager Jim Dean says, "there's still time for them to implement the rates because they will have to go through the Public Service Commission to get that done. But the deadline is coming up and we have to start doing something to prepare ourselves for whatever direction we have to go in."

Several months ago Marianna officials asked the Public Service Commission to evaluate FPU's contract with Gulf Power, which provides their electricity.

Representatives from FPU and Gulf Power attended last night's meeting.