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Integrity Florida Press Statement

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“Whether you call it Vote by Mail or Absentee Voting, in Florida the election system is Safe and Secure, Tried and True. Florida’s Voting system has been cleaned up (we defeated Democrats attempts at change), so in Florida I encourage all to request a Ballot & Vote by Mail!

#MAGA- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)

August 4, 2020″

Ben Wilcox, research director of Integrity Florida, issued the following statement about Senate Bill 90. [Read more…] about Integrity Florida Press Statement

New Integrity Florida Report Evaluates the Quality and Diversity of Federal Judicial Nominees

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Integrity Florida releases a new report today examining how the quality and diversity of judicial nominations has changed under the Trump administration and what those changes mean for the country and for Floridians who rely on the courts for the fair administration of justice in criminal and civil cases. [Read more…] about New Integrity Florida Report Evaluates the Quality and Diversity of Federal Judicial Nominees

New Integrity Florida Report Documents How Energy Industry Exerts Outsized Political Influence in Florida

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Integrity Florida today releases a new research report, Power Play Redux: Political Influence of Florida’s Top Energy Corporations, examining the influence of Florida’s largest investor-owned utilities on Florida lawmakers and utility regulators.
The new report updates a 2014 report by Integrity Florida which examined the political influence of the state’s four largest electric utility companies: Florida Power & Light (FPL), Duke Energy (formerly Progress Energy), TECO Energy and Gulf Power.
In this new report, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy has asked Integrity Florida to examine political spending by utilities in the election cycles that have occurred since the last report (2014 and 2016) while also looking at ways the utilities attempt to influence energy policy and regulators through lobbying expenditures.
The report examines how the Florida Legislature often sets its agenda and arrives at policies based on the desires of large political donors rather than the public interest.
Integrity Florida found that Florida’s four largest electric utility monopolies gave state-level candidates, political parties and committees more than $43 million during the 2014 and 2016 election cycles. This means the utilities spent more than twice as much on political contributions during a four-year period than they spent during the prior ten-year period covered in the 2014 Power Play report.
This jump in contributions included over $20 million in contributions to advance a constitutional amendment during the 2016 cycles that critics said would limit rooftop solar expansion.
Utilities also continue to have an outsized lobbying presence in the Florida Capitol, employing more than one lobbyist for every two legislators. From 2014 through 2017, the four largest investor owned utilities spent more than $6 million on lobbyists to represent them before the Florida Legislature.
This report builds on a recent Integrity Florida research report, Florida’s “Public Service” Commission? A Captured Regulatory Agency, which documented the influence investor-owned utilities have over their main regulator, the PSC.
In response to the report’s findings, Integrity Florida offers a list of policy options for lawmakers to consider:
  • Prohibit campaign contributions by regulated utilities to state candidates and political committees supporting or opposing state candidates.
  • Customer expenses versus shareholder profits. Require disclosure when customers cover costs for political spending and lobbying through trade groups and associations.
  • Political Committee reporting. Require more transparency by prohibiting transfers of money between political committees and clearly identifying in an easily searchable database those with ties to the committee.
  • Lobby compensation reporting. Require legislative and executive branch lobbyists and firms to report the actual amount of compensation rather than a range as is currently required.
  • Greater independence for the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC). Because the Florida Public Service Commission is, by definition, a legislative agency and the Florida legislature sets budgets for the PSC and a committee selected by legislative leaders sends the governor a list of potential nominees to serve as Commissioners, greater independence is needed.
Read the full report here.
Integrity Florida is a nonpartisan research institute and government watchdog whose mission is to promote integrity in government and expose public corruption.  More information at integrityflorida.org.

New Integrity Florida Report Calls the Florida PSC a Captured Regulatory Agency

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Integrity Florida today released a new research report examining the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) and many of the more controversial rate decisions the commission has made in recent years.
The report, titled Florida’s “Public Service” Commission? A Captured Regulatory Agency, builds on key findings by proposing a series of policy reform options that would greatly improve the PSC’s ability to serve the people of Florida.
“Investor-owned utilities regulated by the PSC have an extraordinary degree of influence on the Governor and the legislature and they have used that influence to pursue favorable decisions by the PSC, at the expense of the public,” said Ben Wilcox, Research Director for Integrity Florida. “This report shows that the Public Service Commission has been “captured” by the very industries it is supposed to regulate.”
The PSC has the dual responsibility of balancing the needs of monopoly utilities and their investors with the needs of consumers. The commission must set rates that are fair, just and reasonable for consumers, but utility investors must also be allowed to earn a reasonable return on their investment. When evaluating recent rate decisions researchers noticed some troubling trends.
“Many contested rate hike requests by utilities are resolved through settlements. However, utilities seem to be gaming the settlement process,” said Alan Stonecipher, Integrity Florida Research Associate. “The companies enter negotiations in rate cases much like a used car dealer who marks up the initial asking price knowing that they will eventually agree to a lower amount.”
“There also seems to be a pattern with the PSC, and other elected officials, allowing utilities to shift the costs of their most risky and speculative projects from shareholders to consumers,” said Brad Ashwell, Integrity Florida Research Associate.
The report makes several key findings:
  • The Florida PSC meets the criteria for a “captured” regulatory agency.
  • The PSC needs more independence from the Florida Legislature.
  • Residential energy customers need more balanced prioritization.
  • Utilities are gaming the settlement process.
  • The PSC is allowing utilities to shift risk from shareholders to customers.
  • The Office of the Public Counsel needs more independence, just as the PSC, and should likewise be insulated from political considerations.
In response to the report’s findings, Integrity Florida offers a list of policy options for lawmakers to consider:
  • Return the Public Service Commission to an elected body or a mix of elected and appointed members.
  • If all or part of the Commission is elected, consider prohibiting candidates for the commission from accepting campaign contributions from interests whose businesses are regulated by the PSC.
  • Broaden membership on the Public Service Commission Nominating Counsel to include, at minimum, consumer groups.
  • Require that the Office of Public Counsel must agree to any PSC settlements for cases in which it participates.
  • If the commission is to remain an appointed body, require that it be nonpartisan by allowing no more than three of the commissioners to be a member of the same political party.
  • Make residential and small business customers the focus of the Office of Public Counsel.
  • Provide more funding for Office of Public Counsel.
  • Explore making the Office of Public Counsel an independent entity like the Florida Commission on Ethics.
“The Public Service Commission and the Office of the Public Counsel need more independence from the Florida Legislature,” added Ben Wilcox. “The process for selection of PSC commissioners and the Office of the Public Counsel should be further insulated from politics and lobbying.”
Read the full report here.