Sept. 24: Speaking Of Ethics, What About the PSC?

By Sylvia Gurinsky


Last week, a member of the Florida Legislature suggested that the Public Service Commission, which is supposed to oversee the state's utilities, might be in need of its own overseer - the Federal Bureau of Investigation.


At the very least, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has already started, and the Florida Senate will likely start its own investigation into the PSC, which has recently seen too-cozy relationships between some of its employees and, in particular, executives at Florida Power & Light. This as FPL and other state utilities are requesting big rate hikes in a bad economy.

The PSC ignored years of grand jury recommendations about how to clean up its house. This is the result. The investigations are past due - and FPL is past due for similar scrutiny from the state. This public utility and its supposed guardian aren't acting very public.