Sen. Mike Fasano wants a halt to all utility rate hearings – including a proposed $1.3 billion Florida Power & Light Co. hike – until investigations into alleged coziness between the Public Service Commission and the utilities they regulate.

“The integrity of the Commission has been brought into question due to the recent resignation of the PSC’s lobbyist, the firing of a commission aide and the placement of two others on leave due to the question of ex parte communications, as well as sharing of Blackberry PINs, with utility executives of the two companies seeking the rate increases. With the possibility of the Florida Senate Ethics & Elections Committee holding a hearing to look into the serious allegations regarding the operation of the PSC, any decision made while under the cloud of controversy would forever plague all parties in the case,” Fasano, R-New Port Richey, wrote in a letter to PSC Chairman Matthew Carter today.

Fasano is asking for the Senate investigation and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is also looking into possible wrongdoing at the commission.

Read Fasano’s letter after the jump.

September 11, 2009

The Honorable Matthew Carter

Florida Public Service Commission

2540 Shumard Oak Boulevard

Tallahassee, FL 32399-0850

Dear Chairman Carter:

In the face of the serious controversy swirling around the Florida Public Service Commission I am requesting that the hearings regarding the Florida Power & Light and Progress Energy Florida rate cases be suspended immediately. Until the various investigations which are underway are complete, and the Senate confirms or rejects whomever the governor appoints to fill the two upcoming commission seats, any further work on these cases should be postponed indefinitely.

The integrity of the Commission has been brought into question due to the recent resignation of the PSC’s lobbyist, the firing of a commission aide and the placement of two others on leave due to the question of ex parte communications, as well as sharing of Blackberry PINs, with utility executives of the two companies seeking the rate increases. With the possibility of the Florida Senate Ethics & Elections Committee holding a hearing to look into the serious allegations regarding the operation of the PSC, any decision made while under the cloud of controversy would forever plague all parties in the case.

I do not make this request lightly. The PSC has within its power the ability to impact millions of Floridians who receive utility service from these two companies. The utilities themselves will forever have their operations impacted by any action taken by the PSC at this time. As the custodian of the public’s trust the PSC must make decisions without taint of scandal or misconduct. At some future time, when all investigations are finalized and appropriate actions are taken, would be the prudent moment to continue the rate cases.

The customers whom you serve need to have the confidence that all decisions made will be in their best interests. The utility companies will still be here when the investigations are closed and the findings are released. They may not be happy with this delay but they can continue to operate until the work of law enforcement and other bodies is complete. The customers surely cannot afford the potential of increased rates that may or may not be imposed upon them if those decisions are made under the shroud of suspicion that currently exists.

I would greatly appreciate your response to this request. I believe that it would best serve Floridians to know that, when this all ends, their chief regulatory agency has been given, hopefully, a clean bill of health.

Yours truly,

Picture (Device Independent Bitmap)

Mike Fasano

State Senator, District 11

MF/gg

Cc: The Honorable Charlie Crist

The Honorable Jeff Atwater

The Honorable Larry Cretul

Tags: Florida Power & Light, Mike Fasano, PSC, Public Service Commission, utilities

This entry was posted on Friday, September 11th, 2009 at 12:30 pm and is filed under legislature, Public Service Commission, State Senate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.