TALLAHASSEE – Members of the Florida panel that regulates utilities have expressed support for legislation that would allow them to restrict public access to certain hearings of interest to ratepayers.
In an internal administrative hearing held Nov. 17, Public Service Commission members pressed for such a change in the wake of a decision by the Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH), according to the head of the Office of Public Counsel, attorney J.R. Kelly. A case that eventually produced a rebate for Duke Energy Corp. customers was referred to DOAH because it centered around what observers said was proprietary information or trade secrets.
“The judge found that Duke was negligent in operating a particular plant, and he awarded a refund of some $16 million to Duke ratepayers,” Kelly told the Florida Record.
Although details about the case have not been disclosed, the DOAH website summarized actions taken by Judge Lawrence Stevenson in April that led to the ratepayer refund.
“Duke Energy failed to demonstrate that it was prudent in its operation of the Bartow plant (in St. Petersburg),” the summary states. “Duke Energy should be required to refund the replacement power costs to the ratepayers.”
Referrals of utility-related disputes to DOAH due to confidential industrial information are rare, according to Kelly. It’s only happened a handful of times over the past 40 years, he said, and also indicated that most of the DOAH proceedings in the Duke case were confidential.
“There are some trade secrets that need to remain confidential,” Kelly said, but he added that the majority of information reviewed by the Public Service Commission is not confidential.
He said he was personally opposed to allowing commissioners to make more information exempt from public exposure.
“The system is working,” Kelly said. “I don’t see any need for a change. Customers get a favorable decision and everybody says, ‘Oh my God … something must be broken.”
The Public Counsel’s Office represents utility ratepayers before federal and Florida regulatory agencies, as well as within the state and federal court systems.
“I do not believe in secret hearings, or closed hearings, and I don’t believe they are good for the process, and I do not believe they’re good for the customers,” Kelly said.