Lawmakers want to shine a light on PSC

Overhauling of the state agency that regulates utilities took a first step toward passage this week.

State Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, is shepherding a bill to make Florida Public Service Commission more accountable.

Reports of ethical lapses at PSC last year outraged his boss, according to Greg Giordano, the chief legislative aide to Fasano, the Senate president pro tempore.

State Rep. John Legg, R-Port Richey, the sponsors of the twin bill in the Florida House to remake the PSC, was equally furious.

Both had demanded an inquiry after allegations in September of close ties between PSC staff and utility officials.

While regulators had been reviewing a request for higher rates for Florida Power and Light in south Florida, revelations came to light that PSC staff had been exchanging confidential messages with FP&L executives about the rate case, Giordano recalled. Two PSC staff members resigned.

Since that time, Gov. Charlie Crist appointed two members to replace incumbent PSC commissioners. Fasano and Legg, however, wanted to cement changes in the way PSC conducts business.

Fasano's version of the PSC legislation, Senate Bill 1034, has garnered support, Giordano said. It gained passage this week from the first of two committees to consider it.

A kind of informal handicapping system exists in the state Legislature, political observers explain, related to the number of committees assigned to hear a bill. A bill that must pass through very few committees indicates favoritism for the proposal. A bill that must hurdle many committees indicates the legislation is not held in high regard.

S.B. 1034 now has only one more hurdle before it can reach the Senate floor for a final vote. The rules committee could review the PSC proposed changes to the PSC when committees meet again within two weeks. The bill thus could be ready when lawmakers convene in early March for the 2010 session of the Legislature.

"It makes a very transparent process," Giordano said in describing the bills from Fasano and Legg.

Proposals would require the PSC to post any oral or written communications to a Web site, Giordano said.

That would prevent last September's controversy surround the exchange of confidential telephone text messages between aides to PSC members and utility representatives, Giordano said. The proposed changes would restrict departing PSC officials and staff from taking jobs as lobbyists for regulated utilities for up to two years after leaving the state agency.

Giordano describes the proposals as a "real step" and a "level of accountability that has not been there before."