Power companies want to pull the plug on customer champion

Florida’s power companies already control the panel that regulates them. Now they want to control the person who defends you against rate increases.

Senate Bill 7052 is designed to gut the independence of the Office of Public Counsel, which represents customers in rate hearings before the five-member Florida Public Service Commission.

Under J.R. Kelly, who has held the job since 2007, the office regularly has opposed rate requests by Florida Power & Light and other investor-owned utilities as excessive. The commission almost always sides with the power companies, which hold a monopoly in their service areas. Still, Kelly has been an annoyance for FPL and the others.

Currently, Kelly serves at the pleasure of the Legislature’s 10-member Joint Committee on Public Counsel Oversight, which appoints the public counsel and reviews him every two years. The committee has found no reason to remove Kelly. His performance has been excellent. He does the job as designed. He digs into the details on your behalf. He’s saved you money.

SB 7052 would remove Kelly from office by setting a 12-year term limit on his position. Kelly has served for 13 years. On March 1, the committee would appoint a new public counsel to a four-year term, subject to reappointment.

Nothing in the bill analysis explains why this change is necessary. Nothing explains why the term limit has to be 12 years.

But anyone who understands the Legislature understands the real reason for this bill.

Ten years ago, FPL lost a major rate case. Since then, FPL has led the utilities’ effort to purge any customerfriendly commissioners and ensure none would ever serve again.

FPL is a successful company. In the last decade, it has lost just once before the commission. That came last summer in a case involving rules for energy conservation.

Kelly and his office, however, regularly push back.

In one instance, Kelly’s office scored a notable victory. FPL wanted to bill customers for its venture into natural gas exploration. But as a regulated monopoly, it can make money only from energy generation, not exploration. Kelly’s office argued that FPL should pay for the drilling venture itself.

Predictably, the commission rejected his argument. But Kelly successfully appealed to the Florida Supreme Court in 2016, and FPL had to give its customers refunds.

Next year, the Public Service Commission will hear four major rate cases, including FPL’s, which the company pushed back until after the election. The others involve Duke Energy, Tampa Electric and Gulf Power, which FPL’s parent company — NextEra Energy — bought last year. Collectively, the companies cover almost the entire state.

That’s why FPL and the others want Kelly gone. If the Legislature complies, history tells us the power companies will ensure lawmakers choose a replacement who cares less about customers.

The same thing has happened with the Public Service Commission Nominating Council. The 12-member panel screens applicants and recommends finalists to the governor, whose choices the Florida Senate must confirm.

Legislators dominate the council. In recent years, applicants who might strike a balance between the power companies and the public haven’t even gotten a hearing before the council.

Becoming a utility regulator in Florida these days depends more on Republican connections than relevant experience. Andrew Fay, the commission’s newest member, was former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s liaison to the Florida Cabinet.

Former Gov. Rick Scott appointed or reappointed all the current commissioners. FPL was one of Scott’s biggest donors, and the company hasn’t slowed up.

FPL and NextEra Energy have donated roughly $2 million to state politicians and political action committees so far in this election cycle. In the last election cycle, it spent more than $8 million on political contributions, far more than any other entity we know.

Bills in Tallahassee that start with “7” relate to the budget or are priorities for legislative leaders. That means that SB 7052 is a priority either for Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, or

Sen. Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby.

Simpson will become president next year. FPL has donated $200,000 in this cycle to Simpson’s political action committee, Jobs for Florida. In the 2018 election cycle, it gave his committee $170,000. Money like that goes a long way.

Two committees have approved SB 7052. It is on Friday’s special order calendar, which could mean a floor vote. There is no House version, but Galvano and House Speaker Jose Oliva, R-Miami, could arrange for the House simply to pass the Senate bill.

The Legislature created the Office of Public Counsel in 1974 because monopoly power companies had acquired too much influence.

As the Florida Supreme Court noted two years later:

“That office was created with the realization that the citizens of the state cannot adequately represent themselves in utility matters, and that the rate-setting function of the (Public Service) Commission is best performed when those who will pay utility rates are represented in an adversary proceeding by counsel at least as skilled as counsel for the utility company.”

But that was a time when the Legislature cared more about the public. If the Senate doesn’t reject this terrible bill,

Gov. DeSantis should veto it.

Kelly