COMMENTARY

MARK SCHUMANN

In the recently ended legislative session, Florida Power and Light, the state’s largest electric monopoly, successfully lobbied in the House of Representatives to kill a bill passed in the Senate that would have given customers greater access to the Florida Public Service Commission. The bill would have required the PSC to hold at least one meeting a year within the service territories of the utilities it regulates.

PSC meetings are now held in Tallahassee, far from much of FPL’s service territory and its customers, not all of whom are pleased with their electric service. Clearly, FPL would prefer to be regulated by the PSC in Tallahassee, not closer to home, where their customers could more conveniently testify about service issues. The last thing FPL wants is an annual public meeting of its customers.

Because FPL is not governed by Florida’s Sunshine Law, we will never know how much the utility giant spent to persuade the Florida House to kill an effort to allow customers to more conveniently seek redress from the PSC.

While Vero Beach City Councilwoman Pilar Turner is busy accusing her fellow council members of helping the Florida Municipal Power Agency hide “dark secrets,” you would think she might at least have something to say about FPL’s opposition to the PSC’s holding meetings within its service territory.