MARK SCHUMANN
To listen to State Rep. Debbie Mayfield, the members of the Indian River County Commission and local utility activists Glen Heran and Steven Faherty, the interests of Florida’s utility consumers are safe in the hands of the Florida Public Service Commission. Not everyone agrees.
The watchdog group, Integrity Florida, published a March 31, 2014 report detailing the ways Florida’s top energy corporations are using their millions to buy political influence. As just on example, the report reveals Sen. Joe Negron’s law firm was paid $254,459 by Florida Power & Light for lobbying efforts in 2012.
On the last day of the 2014 legislative session, Negron slipped into the Senate appropriation bill $200,000 to pay for an audit of the Florida Municipal Power Agency. FPL had lobbied directly for the audit of the joint action agency with whom it is previously gone to court, and with whom it is currently struggling in its effort to acquire Vero Electric. The audit will reportedly be available soon after the first of the year.
Below is the executive summary of Integrity Florida’s report, followed by a link to the full report by Ben Wilcox and Dan Krassner.
Summary of Research Findings
- Major campaign donations. Electric utilities contributed more than $18 million to state-level candidates and party organizations between the 2004 and 2012 election cycles.
- Significant lobbying. Lobbying spending by Florida’s four largest electric utilities was more than $12 million between 2007 and 2013.
- Revolving door and cronyism. Electric utilities have made a point of hiring former state regulators and have employed the firms of several sitting state legislators.
- Higher electric bills for consumers. Floridians have faced higher electric utility bills from each of the four corporations examined in this study in recent years.
- Anti-consumer regulations. The Florida Legislature and the Florida Public Service Commission routinely side with electric utilities rather than consumers.
Indian River Guardian 
sickening