Lawmaker, AARP call for nationwide utility commission reforms to stop rising electric bills
Dive Brief: Utility commissions across the nation are “broken” and must be reformed to stop rising electric costs, a coalition of lawmakers, consumer and environmental advocates said Tuesday during a joint press conference. Speakers at the press conference said it seemed likely that the Florida Public Service Commission would “rubber stamp” a $9.8 billion base rate increase proposed by Florida Power & Light, and argued that regulators have become too deferential to utility requests. U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., reintroduced legislation on Tuesday that would prohibit utility companies from using ratepayer dollars to fund political lobbying and advertising. Dive Insight: What started as a Tuesday morning press conference drawing attention to the plight of Floridians struggling to pay rising electric bills quickly escalated to calls for legislative reforms of utility commissions across the nation. “When we have a public service commission that does not look out for the best interest of the customers but rather the utility company itself, there is a problem,” Zayne Smith, senior director of advocacy at AARP Florida, said. “This is a canary in the coal mine if the current ask is granted.” Advocates on the call argued that FPL’s request to increase base rates by 2.5% would harm Florida residents who are already struggling to pay their bills amid other rising costs. Hearings in the case are set to begin this month. Documents obtained during the rate case discovery period suggest that up to a fifth of FPL customers had their power shut off between March 2024 and February 2025 due to unpaid bills, according to Bradley Marshall, an Earthjustice attorney who is representing Florida Rising, the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida in the upcoming rate case proceedings. While FPL argues that the increase would maintain base rates
