FPL can’t charge $16 million for corporate flights to customers
by Dara Kam | October 21st, 2009Florida Power & Light Co. just agreed to scrub $16 million from its proposed $1.3 billion rate hike.
FPL finally relented after much discussion during previous testimony questioning who was picking up the tab for flights for the utility’s executives, their wives and guests to high-flung destinations like Napa Valley and a helicopter flight from Palm Beach County airport to another to avoid traffic.
The result: customers won’t have to foot the bill for about $16 million in corporate flights as the Juno Beach-based energy company had originally proposed.
“It is important to note that aviation costs have had zero impact on the rates customers have paid. Going forward, we have removed the costs from the case because we do not want to allow this issue to continue to be a distraction. This means that aviation costs will continue to have no impact on customer rates,” FPL spokesman Mark Bubriski said in an e-mailed statement.
Today’s FPL hearing is slated to last 10 hours and finish up on Friday.
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October 21st, 2009 at 11:04 am
Yah, 16 million is a drop in the bucket to this slush fund. Sure why not, let’s be monopolized by the only utility provider and pay for their executives, the executives wives, children, girlfriends, and political cronies to fly from airport to airport so they can avoid traffic. Meanwhile, I’m selling plasma to pay my mortgage. Fah-q aholes.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:15 am
“The reason they call it the American Dream is because you have to be asleep to believe it.” RIP George
October 21st, 2009 at 11:36 am
no kidding…we need to can FPL FAT CATS.
Sell the planes…why not fly coach or drive….
Make the President Move to JUNO BEACH so he does not Helicopter to work daily at OUR EXPENSE.
3 days late on your 39 dollar electric bill…they threaten to turn it off!
What putzs
October 21st, 2009 at 11:38 am
1.3 Billion Rate Hike in the worst year for Florida I have seen in my 40 years of sunshine state living and still solar power isn’t even a kilowatt.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:27 pm
These Fat Cats ALREADY hiked their rates- maybe 3 years ago, AFTER the hurricanes – about 30%!!! My bills this year have been pretty much in the same range of KW/hours used per month as they did last year. Let’s assume that trend actually goes back 4 or 5 years…So why are my bills for the last 3 years about 30% MORE than they were in ’02, ’03, ’04???
Hmmm…I’d say the FAT CATS have continued to gorge themselves on our income, which has NOT increased by 30% in the past 4 years, I might add!!!!
October 21st, 2009 at 2:53 pm
Sure, they’ll take $16 million for airplanes and helicopters out of the discussions. They will just add it to discretionary “slush funds” (or whatever they wish to call it) in another part of the budget.
When they say it doesn’t have any impact on rates—how is that possible?!? Does the money come from a magic hat? Every penny spent on salaries, benefits, paying for the buildings, and even those helicopters–they all come from the same budget.
I hate liars.
October 21st, 2009 at 7:19 pm
The corruption is pervasive in the State of Florida. Please visit http://www.governorsaporito.com and download a voter petition to have my name placed on the ballot. I will bring needed change to clean-up and rid our state of corruption.
Thank you!
Thomas Saporito