Public Service Commissioner Katrina McMurrian, who quit her post this morning effective immediately, expanded on her resignation in a statement.

McMurrian refused to recuse herself from a vote on a pending $1.3 billion Florida Power & Light Co. rate increase despite questions about her ability to be impartial on the issue.

McMurrian was a panelist at a New York City energy conference also attended by FPL executives, and went to a dinner also attended by an FPL executive.

Gov. Charlie Crist snubbed McMurrian and PSC Chairman Matthew Carter last week by passing them over for reappointment in favor of two inexperienced replacements.

Crist asked that the panel postpone the FPL hearing and another $500 million Progress Energy Florida rate increase proposal until his new panel takes over on Jan. 1.

“No doubt, I am an insider. I started out at the Commission in 1994. I grew up in this process, moving up from a Regulatory Analyst to a Commissioner’s Aide to a Commissioner,” McMurrian said in her statement.

“There are rules that govern all aspects of the Commission process. I know the rules, and I have followed them. But members of the public have spoken, and the Governor has spoken. They want a new set of rules… and new leadership. I respect that,” she wrote. “I recognize that this issue is much bigger than me. I don’t want to be a part of the problem – I want to help with the solution.”

Tags: Charlie Crist, Florida Power & Light, FPL, Katrina McMurrian, PSC, Public Service Commission

This entry was posted on Monday, October 5th, 2009 at 2:23 pm and is filed under Charlie Crist, Public Service Commission. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.