Legislation introduced to end "coziness" between utilities and regulators
The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) has been attracting attention in the past few months. But it is probably attention commissioners would rather not have. A Florida Senate bill has been introduced to limit the perceived influence utilities have on commission decisions, along with other commission-related provisions.
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Credit: belchonok |
Senate Bill 288 was introduced by Sen. Jack Latvala, a Republican from Clearwater.
"As an elected representative of people who have to pay electric bills, I have a responsibility to say enough is enough, and we need to try to rein in some of those practices. And the worst situation that has been allowed to develop is the coziness between the investor-owned utilities and the Public Service Commission," he was quoted as saying in the News Herald.
The legislation also takes aim at customer deposit costs paid to utilities and how customer rates are increased. It also calls for commissioners to take ethics training and would require utilities to help customers get the best rates they can, in addition to procedural changes for the commission.
An earlier bill, brought up by Representatives Chris Sprowls (R-Palm Harbor) and John Legg (R-Lutz) proposes limiting terms for commissioners named to their positions after July of this year to two, establishing five commission districts and require commissioners to live in the districts they represent and requiring that elected officials wait two years before they become eligible to join the commission.
That legislation was introduced after the PSC cut the state's energy-efficiency programs by more than 90 percent.
Another bill introduced this month asks that utilities be prohibited from passing on investment costs from oil and natural gas exploration and production.
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