Amazing Day: Florida Public Service Commission stands up to Florida Power and Light! by gimleteye

The day after news reports that Florida lost population last year for the first time in 63 years, and the week before FPL goes before the Public Service Commission asking for a $1.3 billion rate increase, the state appointed board that regulates electric utilities stood up to Florida Power and Light over the issue of disclosing high paid employees salaries. FPL executives have complained that releasing salary details would put the company at "a competitive disadvantage". To who? FPL and its brethren have competitive monopolies and they routinely wield those monopolies with all the hubris of a central cog in the Growth Machine.

The Miami Herald reports, "PSC Commissioner Nathan Skop berated the companies for "gamesmanship'' and chastised them for failing to "respect the regulatory process'' by protesting "a straightforward request'' for the salary data. "We have a regulatory process to perform,'' Skop said. He called the hearing over the salary issue "a drain on our resources'' and said the companies had "selectively responded, dictated what they will provide and how they will provide it, and to me that is unacceptable.''

Speaking of gaming and drains on resources by FPL, the PSC should also check out the rabbit holes the utility is sending consumers, ratepayers, elected officials and citizen advocates down in its effort to obtain licenses for two new nuclear reactors at Turkey Point. A controversy has busted out over FPL's plan to site high voltage power lines along US 1, the most heavily populated transportation corridor is South Florida and through Everglades National Park. Separately, on July 28th Miami-Dade County issued a 46 page report of bullet points, blandly titled "Completeness Deficiency Description" for the FPL Site Certification Application for the new nuclear reactors. It is an astonishing compendium that attaches specifics to issues raised well over a year ago by environmentalists (including Eye On Miami) during a battle to stop the unreformable majority of the County Commission from approving FPL's special use zoning request. The commissioners could have held off FPL, allowing the county to remain the critical forum to protect consumers, ratepayers and taxpayers, until the answers were provided. But it didn't, under the full court press by lobbyists retained by the utility.

That lobbyist swarm, also compensated exceedingly well, did not persuade the Public Service Commission yesterday. The $1.3 billion rate increase sought by FPL enriches executives who really do hold themselves and their business models to be a higher purpose than common people who are abandoning Florida.

According to the Sun Sentinel, "At least 368 FPL and FPL Group employees earned more than $165,000 in total compensation — a figure that reflects base salary, overtime, bonuses and other benefits — adding up to $96 million in 2008. That excludes the utility's five top officers. It includes $4.7 million in overtime and $30.4 million in stock awards, stock options and other compensation. Each of the companies' 39 officers earned an average of $623,273, including $216,533 for base salary, $237,649 for stock awards and $125,860 for other compensation."

Maybe at the same as questioning how this wealth creation is justified during the worst economic crisis since the Depression, the Public Service Commission can ask how its approval of more than $100 million for FPL to engage in planning for two new nuclear reactors at Turkey Point resulted in 46 pages of general deficiencies in its site certification application. There is only one answer: ratepayers are funding FPL executives to do whatever they want.