Florida Utilities Lobbying Hard to Tilling Bill, contain profits, says the legislator

A legislative template that would contain the profits of pension companies Florida and force them to reveal the payment of the managers, said goodbye to his first committee in Tallahasee this week. Even the Bill sponsor, the Republican Senator Don Gaetz, was a little surprised.

“I was told 15 minutes before I presented the bill, I didn't have the votes,” said Gaetz, adding that a legislative employee had submitted the message.

Care companies are among the most powerful special interests in Florida. And they used hard behind the scenes to kill Senate Bill 354, said Gaetz.

“Other senators told me that they were confronted with a rather significant lobbying work,” he said, describing the industry efforts “violently and well financed”. Previously, he told the Tampa Bay Times that managers with Florida Power & Light met days after submitting the proposal to issue their opposition.

Gaetz 'draft law was initially even longer opportunities because it had no home companion. Suggestions must pass both chambers of the legislator in order to become a law.

But at the end of the last month, Rep. Alex Andrade, who is also a Republican from the Panhandle, submitted the Bill 1319 house, which contains some of the same language. The hardest parts in connection with electrical supply companies are missing. Andrade did not respond to a voicemail or texts that are looking for a comment.

This did not stop the companies from getting involved.

House Records show that four Florida Power & Light Lobbyists who are registered in the invoice. The company, which is the largest supply company in the country, has a massive squad of 37 lobbyists in Tallahasee, including a former chief of staff from Desantis and other top -class names. A spokesman for the company rejected a statement in an e -mail.

In the past month, Florida Power & Light demanded almost 9 billion US dollars for customers' customer base rates in the next four years, which started affordable as the largest tariff request in American history.

Several lobbyists from the Associated Industries of Florida, a powerful group of businesses that have received political contributions from pension companies such as Duke Energy and Tampa Electric, have also registered with the lobby for the house bill. Neither Duke Energy nor Tampa Electric Lobbyists are registered in the law, and the companies have previously refused to reveal their attitude towards the proposal to the time.

High electricity costs have become a focus of the Panhandle Republicans, after the parent company of Florida Power & Light recently acquired Golf Power, which used parts of the northwest. Since this merger, the invoices of the residents have increased and, according to the Pensacola News Journal, has released angered crowds at local government meetings and a petition in which Pensacola was asked to form their own municipal supply company.

During the hearing on Wednesday by Gaetz 'draft law in the Senate Committee on Regulated Senate, no supply supply officers spoke. In addition to the containment of the shareholders, the draft law would add two members to the Commission for Public Services that regulate the supply companies and require that they have financial knowledge to better analyze complex interest rate requests.

“High supply costs make it more and more difficult for people like me to afford the necessities,” a resident of the Hillsborough County named Sabrina Christie told the committee. She was one of the members of the Seniors Advocacy Group Aarp, which asked legislators to support the legislative template.

Christie said she opposed the basic rate of Tampa Electric last year. In days of lengthy public meetings in the Tampa Bay Area, the residents asked the supervisory authorities not to increase their costs. Nevertheless, the company got a lot of what it asked.

“This experience made it clear to me that we need greater protection to ensure that the increase in the rate is fair,” said Christie.

The draft law passed the committee 5-2, with the Republican Sens. Joe Gruders and Jim Boyd, the majority leader of the Senate, voted against.

Gaetz, former President of the Senate of Florida and father of ex-US-Rep. Matt Gaetz said that he was not sure of the long -term chances of the measure, although he would continue to try to drive it forward.

“If you are a betting person, you should always bet on the supply companies and your political clout in Tallahassee,” he said. “We hope for the best in the future.”