TALLAHASSEE, Florida — A pair of bills that would further regulate the relationship between local utilities and customers outside municipal boundaries advanced through their final state House committee Tuesday.
Details: The House Commerce Committee advanced H.B. 1451, which would require local utilities to participate in public meetings before allowing customers outside of municipal boundaries to connect to their services. The bill would also reduce water and wastewater rates for customers outside of municipal boundaries. Under current statutes, utilities are allowed to add a 50 percent surcharge for out-of-bounds residents, but the bill would cut that to 25 percent.
Rep. Demi Busatta (R-Coral Gables), the bill’s sponsor, told POLITICO the bill protects ratepayers who live outside a municipality — and may be ineligible for municipal elections — from being overcharged.
“That is taxation without representation,” Busatta said.
