No. SB 1532
Filed under Environment & Water.
Florida Public Service Commission; Requiring the commission to implement specified measures to improve transparency and accountability; requiring the commission to ensure that public utilities do not recover certain costs from ratepayers regardless of whether such costs take a specified form; requiring the commission to ensure that the allowable return on equity for public utilities does not exceed certain metrics; requiring that certain cost-tracking mechanisms for a public utility to recover changes in electric supply costs provide a specified cost-sharing structure, etc.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDThe bill bars public utilities from billing ratepayers for several specific costs: more than half of "commissioner" compensation, tax penalties or fines, investor-relations spending, brand advertising, dues to lobbying groups, and outside lawyers hired for rate cases.
A separate provision caps the return on equity the commission may allow any public utility at the national average for comparable utilities, tying Florida profit margins to what regulators approve elsewhere in the country.
Any mechanism a utility uses to recover changes in electricity supply or fuel costs must now split that cost at least 80 percent to customers and 20 percent to the utility itself, instead of passing the full amount through.
The commission must also hold more public hearings, publish utility executives' pay, and write new rules linking each utility's allowed return to performance metrics like grid reliability and energy efficiency, including a suggested 50-50 debt-to-equity structure.
AIPublic utilities may not recover from ratepayers, through base rates or any rider, more than 50 percent of compensation or expense reimbursement for "commissioners," tax penalties or fines, investor-relations expenses, brand advertising, or dues to lobbying organizations.
AIThe commission must ensure no public utility is allowed a return on equity higher than the national average authorized for comparable utilities elsewhere, replacing case-by-case discretion with an external benchmark.
AIAny cost-tracking mechanism a utility uses to recover changes in electricity supply costs must limit customers to no more than 80 percent of the cost and require the utility to absorb at least 20 percent, ending full pass-through.
AIThe Legislature directs the commission to adopt rules linking a utility's allowed return on equity to performance metrics such as grid reliability and energy efficiency, and to provide guidelines for a 50-50 debt-to-equity capital structure.
AIIf the commission finds a utility improperly billed ratepayers for a banned cost, it must order a refund plus interest, may impose an additional penalty, and may refer the matter to the Attorney General for further action.
AIThe commission must ensure utilities hold in-person public hearings scaled to customer count, and make public the compensation of each utility's executive officers or the officers of its subsidiaries.