FPL hands over executives’ salaries to state — but you still can’t see them
by Dara Kam | August 24th, 2009Florida Power & Light today handed over the salaries of its executives who make more than $165,000 a year, but it refused to let the public have access to the documents.
The Public Service Commission last week told the utility to disclose the salaries of its highest-paid employees to help the panel decide whether to grant a $1.3 billion rate hike.
FPL initially balked but agreed today to give the panel the salaries of about 460 employees, about 4 percent of the company’s 11,000 workers. But it filed them under a “cloak of confidentiality,” meaning they will be kept secret until a final decision.
FPL has not yet appealed the PSC order. It has 30 days from Wednesday’s order to do so.
Similar cases are usually heard by the Florida Supreme Court, a spokeswoman for the PSC said.
PSC Commissioner Nancy Argenziano demanded that FPL disclose the salaries, and the panel unanimously agreed that the information was necessary as the PSC considers the utility’s proposed 31 percent rate increase.
Under Florida law, the information should be available to everyone, said J.R. Kelly, who heads the state’s Office of the Public Counsel, which represents consumers on utility issues.
“It seems to us the statute is pretty clear that the information is public and is not confidential,” Kelly said.
Tags: Florida Power & Light, rate hike
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August 25th, 2009 at 9:01 am
I hope the media powers sue the PSC for public access to these public records like they successfully did recently for the NCAA records on the FSU investigation.