Utilities and Public Service Commission staff, take heed.
State senators have started considering passage of a bill that would ban and punish off-the-record communications between PSC staff and utilities on current or upcoming cases. The bill, introduced to the Senate floor Tuesday but tableduntil today, also outlaws off-the-record communicationbetweenthe PSC and the governors office, lawmakers, lobbyists and others.
The broad ethics reform legislation (SB 1034) will hold commissioners and their staff to a higher code of conduct that will help them recover from a tarnished reputation, said the bills sponsor, Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Fasano.
It will also ensure the commissioners and staff remain accountable to the fee-weary public while giving due process to the utilities they regulate.
I want them to do exactly what they were created to do, said Fasano, R-New Port Richey.
Yet, while a good start, the bill might not go far enough to fight outside influence on the embattled board.
There are good provisions in that bill, but theyre not enough, said PSC Chairwoman Nancy Argenziano.
And while the Senate bill has moved quickly to the floor,the House bill, sponsored by Rep. John Legg, R-Port Richey, has yet to pass committee.
Fasanos legislation, crafted with input and support from the PSC board, calls for the investigation and removal of direct commission staff who engage in off-the-record communication (ex parte communication in legalese) about docketed matters with utilities.
Any written or oral communication between utilities and PSC commissioners or staff must also be posted to the PSC Web site within 72 hours.
State statute already forbids commissioners from off-the-record communication with utilities, but it does not specifically forbid staff from such communication.
Fasanos bill comes in the wake of recent scandal at the PSC and the suggestions of an oft-neglected state Grand Jury report from 1992.
As the commission discussed a high-profile Florida Power and Light rate hike late last year, allegations revealed commission staffers had given FPL the private messaging codes to commissioners BlackBerrys. The PSC lobbyist resigned after being accused of attending a Kentucky Derby party at the home of an executive at FPL, the largest utility in the state.
The scandal was but one example of repeated incidences of misconduct at the commission, Fasano said.
They seem to have lost their understanding or misplaced their ethics books, he said.
More than 18 years ago, the state Grand Jury issued a list of recommendations after the PSC was accused of coming to decisions after allegedly having private meetings -- possibly including dinners -- with utilities executives.
The recommendations included outlawing off-the-record communications between utilities and PSC commissioners and staff, but the suggestions were never fully implemented.
Its time we take those recommendations and put them into law, Fasano said.
The new Senate bill goes beyond banning off-the record communications.
It calls for staff who engage in off-the-record communications to face a fine of no more than $5,000.
In an addition to the bill, which PSC commissioners fought for, utilities with a representative engaged in off-the-record communications will also face a fine of no more than one-tenth of 1 percent of their most recent annual operating revenues.
Utilities are reluctant to comment in-depth on the significance of the legislation. Tim Leljedal, a spokesman for Progress Energy in Florida, said the utility supported the bill in its capacity to increase transparency at its proceedings.
FPL spokeswoman Jackie Anderson would not comment on the matter beyond referring to a November letter on the subject from CEO Armando Olivera. Associated Industries of Florida, to which FPL belongs, would not comment
The bill does not let commissioners off the hook. It requires the PSC be held to the same judicial code of conduct as the Supreme Court.
Being under the Judicial Code of Conduct really tightens things up, said Argenziano, a longtime critic of her own commission
The bill also extends the time a former commissioner must wait before accepting a job with, or lobbying for, a utility from two to four years.
Its harder for utilities to lure commissioners with promises of jobs four years in advance than it is to tempt them with a promise of jobs in two years, Argenziano said.
Argenziano predicted the extended waiting time would be a point of contention among lawmakers.
And, the bill falls short of the proposals needed to make the PSC the trusted regulatory body it needs to be. The Legislatures influence on the PSC must be curbed, said Argenziano
Shes in favor of changing the nominating process to remove the Legislatures influence. Currently, Gov. Charlie Crist nominates commissioners from candidates selected by the Public Service Nominating Council, comprising members of the House and Senate. Argenziano wishes to take the council out of the equation to ensure a legislators bias does not interfere with nominations.
As a possible sign of lawmakers' interference in the board, she pointed to the recent decision to take applications for the job of public counsel to the PSC instead of immediately re-appointing J.R. Kelly.
"I truly beleieve that there was an attempt ro remove him," she said.
Argenziano passionately asserts that removing the influence of legislators over the PSC will be the right way to go eventually. Fasano's ethics reform bill will have a positive effect on the board, but she fears it wil just be a bragging point for legislators to congratulate themselves on.
"You've only put Band-Aid on on a great, big problem," she said.
