TALLAHASSEE, Florida — A state Senate committee Tuesday advanced a Public Service Commission bill after amending it to require the panel to also consider affordability when setting utility rates.
Details: Some members of the Senate Committee on Regulated Industries, before voting for the bill, expressed concerns about how the term “affordable” could be defined or applied in rate-setting.
But state Sen. Don Gaetz (R-Crestview), the bill’s sponsor, responded that affordability is just another legal term or concept that would apply to the PSC — like the requirement now in state law that it set “fair, just and reasonable” rates.
“The issue of affordability in Florida is not going to go away,” said Gaetz, a former Senate president. He said utility rates are “not the driver, but it is a driver.”
