Mar 28 - Palm Beach Post

Consumer advocate Susan Glickman ran her finger over a suggested list for a group of people who could decide everything from the types of power plants that are built in Florida to what kind of gasoline consumers put in their cars for the next several years.

To be a part of the proposed Florida Energy Commission, you must be an expert in energy, natural resource conservation, economics, engineering, finance, law or consumer protection.

"This (list) doesn't give me any comfort," said Glickman, Florida's policy director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, a national environmental group. She does think the next paragraph is a little better: Commission members can't have any financial ties to a business that may profit from the panel's decisions.

"So you assume you're not going to have anyone who works for the utilities," she said.

The energy commission is part of a proposed bill (SB 888) that the Senate Committee on Communications and Public Utilities will take up next Tuesday. There is a similar bill in the House that follows more closely the energy policy ideas of Gov. Jeb Bush, but it does not contain an energy commission.

The proposed 17-member commission is charged with looking at numerous issues, such as how to make sure Florida has enough fuel supplies during a natural disaster and how transmission lines as well as utility poles and wires can be strengthened to withstand hurricanes.

Sen. Lee Constantine, the bill's sponsor, said the proposal breaks down into two parts.

"The first section is who we want, what kind of expertise they need to have. And the second part of the equation, that's who can't be on it, and who can't be on it are people who have interests in the people they are going to be making the decisions for," he said.

"Clearly when you're in the business arena, you're going to have a lot of connections. There's no way for it to be pure," said Constantine, R-Altamonte Springs.

The commission would have nine voting members and eight nonvoting members. The governor, Senate president and House speaker would appoint the nine voting members.

"So right now it would mean that it's three members of the same party, and that may not be the case after the next election, but the best way is to make sure the minority party has some voting power," said Holly Binns, clean air policy advocate for the Florida Public Interest Research Group.

That's also a concern of Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres and the committee's vice chairman.

"There's nothing that explicitly gives the minority party the ability to even appoint or advise," said Aronberg, who added that he thinks that's merely an oversight.

Binns pointed out that the utility industry has nearly 80 registered lobbyists in Tallahassee.

"It's always going to be a much more difficult proposition for the interest of the public to be fairly represented, so making sure the right people are appointed to this commission is critical to the decisions that it makes," she said.

kristi_swartz@pbpost.com

What the bill says

A voting member must be an expert in one or more of the following fields: energy, natural resource conservation, economics, engineering, finance, law, consumer protection, state energy policy, or another field substantially related to the duties and functions of the commission. . . .

2. A voting member may not, at the time of appointment or during his or her term of office:

a. Have any financial interest, other than ownership of shares in a mutual fund, in any business entity that, directly or indirectly, owns or controls, or is an affiliate or subsidiary of, any business entity that may profit by the policy recommendations developed by the commission.

b. Be employed by or engaged in any business activity with any business entity that, directly or indirectly, owns or controls, or is an affiliate or subsidiary of, any business entity that may profit by the policy recommendations developed by the commission.

Source: The Florida Senate, SB 888