Florida Senate - 2026 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 126
Ì132210VÎ132210
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
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The Committee on Regulated Industries (Gaetz) recommended the
following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete everything after the enacting clause
4 and insert:
5 Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 350.01, Florida
6 Statutes, is amended to read:
7 350.01 Florida Public Service Commission; terms of
8 commissioners; vacancies; election and duties of chair; quorum;
9 proceedings; public records and public meetings exemptions.—
10 (1) The Florida Public Service Commission shall be composed
11 consist of seven five commissioners appointed pursuant to s.
12 350.031. One member must be a certified public accountant, and
13 one member must be a chartered financial analyst.
14 Section 2. Section 350.0615, Florida Statutes, is created
15 to read:
16 350.0615 Public Counsel; requirement to negotiate.—For
17 proceedings before the commission in which the Public Counsel is
18 participating as a party, any other group of parties to the
19 proceeding, before presenting a settlement of the proceeding to
20 the commission, must negotiate in good faith with the Public
21 Counsel the terms of such settlement.
22 Section 3. Section 350.129, Florida Statutes, is created to
23 read:
24 350.129 Orders of the Florida Public Service Commission.—
25 (1) All orders issued by the commission must contain
26 adequate support and rationale for the commission’s conclusions,
27 including the specific facts and factors on which the
28 conclusions are based. While the commission may make conclusions
29 based upon the public interest, it shall specify in its orders a
30 rationale for such conclusions.
31 (2) For commission orders that affect substantial interests
32 pursuant to s. 120.569, when issuing an order accepting or
33 denying a settlement agreement reached by any of the parties to
34 a proceeding, all of the following requirements apply:
35 (a) The commission shall provide a reasoned explanation,
36 citing the specific facts and factors on which it relied. The
37 commission shall provide in its order a discussion of the major
38 elements of the settlement and a rationale for its conclusions.
39 (b) The Public Counsel is not a required party to such a
40 settlement. However, the commission may not approve a settlement
41 presented by parties that have not negotiated the terms of such
42 settlement in good faith with the Public Counsel.
43 Section 4. Section 350.130, Florida Statutes, is created to
44 read:
45 350.130 Intervention into commission proceedings.—Persons
46 other than the original parties to a pending commission
47 proceeding, whose substantial interest will be affected by the
48 commission proceeding and who desire to become parties to the
49 proceeding, may make a motion to the commission for leave to
50 intervene in the proceeding pursuant to chapter 120.
51 (1) Any trade, professional, or similar association seeking
52 to intervene in a commission proceeding on the basis of the
53 impact of such proceeding on the association’s membership must
54 include in such motion the nature of the association’s
55 membership, the manner in which such membership will be
56 substantially impacted by the proceeding, and the number and
57 percentage of total members who will be substantially impacted
58 by the proceeding.
59 (2) In order to avoid any unnecessary rate case expense
60 resulting from a party participating in a proceeding in which it
61 does not have standing, the commission shall rule on any
62 challenge to a party’s intervention in a proceeding on the basis
63 of standing on a timely basis and, at minimum, within 30 days
64 after receiving such challenge.
65 Section 5. Section 350.131, Florida Statutes, is created to
66 read:
67 350.131 Affordability.—The commission must consider and
68 address affordability in any proceeding before it that has the
69 potential to impact utility rates.
70 Section 6. Present subsection (4) of section 366.06,
71 Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (5), a new
72 subsection (4) is added to that section, and subsections (1) and
73 (2) of that section are amended, to read:
74 366.06 Rates; procedure for fixing and changing.—
75 (1) A public utility shall not, directly or indirectly,
76 charge or receive any rate not on file with the commission for
77 the particular class of service involved, and no change shall be
78 made in any schedule. All applications for changes in rates
79 shall be made to the commission in writing under rules and
80 regulations prescribed, and the commission shall have the
81 authority to determine and fix affordable, fair, just, and
82 reasonable rates that may be requested, demanded, charged, or
83 collected by any public utility for its service. Any application
84 for a change in rates which also includes a request for a change
85 in return on equity must be made according to the schedule and
86 procedure established by the commission pursuant to s. 366.07.
87 The commission shall investigate and determine the actual
88 legitimate costs of the property of each utility company,
89 actually used and useful in the public service, and shall keep a
90 current record of the net investment of each public utility
91 company in such property which value, as determined by the
92 commission, shall be used for ratemaking purposes and shall be
93 the money honestly and prudently invested by the public utility
94 company in such property used and useful in serving the public,
95 less accrued depreciation, and shall not include any goodwill or
96 going-concern value or franchise value in excess of payment made
97 therefor. In fixing affordable, fair, just, and reasonable rates
98 for each customer class, the commission shall, to the extent
99 practicable, consider the cost of providing service to the
100 class, as well as the rate history, value of service, and
101 experience of the public utility; the consumption and load
102 characteristics of the various classes of customers; and public
103 acceptance of rate structures.
104 (2) Whenever the commission finds, upon request made or
105 upon its own motion, that the rates demanded, charged, or
106 collected by any public utility for public utility service, or
107 that the rules, regulations, or practices of any public utility
108 affecting such rates, are unaffordable, unjust, unreasonable,
109 unjustly discriminatory, or in violation of law; that such rates
110 are insufficient to yield reasonable compensation for the
111 services rendered; that such rates yield excessive compensation
112 for services rendered; or that such service is inadequate or
113 cannot be obtained, the commission shall order and hold a public
114 hearing, giving notice to the public and to the public utility,
115 and shall thereafter determine affordable, just, and reasonable
116 rates to be thereafter charged for such service and promulgate
117 rules and regulations affecting equipment, facilities, and
118 service to be thereafter installed, furnished, and used. Any
119 request made by a public utility pursuant to this section which
120 involves a request for a change in return on equity must be made
121 according to the schedule and procedure established by the
122 commission pursuant to s. 366.07.
123 (4) In setting and evaluating the return on equity for a
124 public utility as part of a rate proceeding:
125 (a) Any financial model used by the commission must be:
126 1. Financially logical; and
127 2. Generally used and accepted by finance practitioners
128 both within and outside of the regulated utility industry; and
129 (b) The commission shall specifically consider and address
130 the financial benefits and the reduction in regulatory, weather,
131 disaster, and general financial risk to the public utility
132 provided by all of the following which are relevant to the
133 public utility:
134 1. Environmental cost recovery under s. 366.8255.
135 2. Storm-recovery financing under s. 366.8260.
136 3. Interim storm-recovery cost recovery under s. 366.8261.
137 4. Cost recovery for the siting, design, licensing, and
138 construction of nuclear and integrated gasification combined
139 cycle power plants under s. 366.93.
140 5. Financing for certain nuclear generating asset
141 retirement or abandonment costs under s. 366.95.
142 6. Storm protection plan cost recovery under s. 366.96.
143 7. Public utility liability arising out of emergencies and
144 disasters under s. 366.98.
145 8. Natural gas facilities relocation costs under s. 366.99.
146 Section 7. Section 366.07, Florida Statutes, is amended to
147 read:
148 366.07 Rates; adjustment.—
149 (1) Whenever the commission, after public hearing either
150 upon its own motion or upon complaint, shall find the rates,
151 rentals, charges or classifications, or any of them, proposed,
152 demanded, observed, charged or collected by any public utility
153 for any service, or in connection therewith, or the rules,
154 regulations, measurements, practices or contracts, or any of
155 them, relating thereto, are unaffordable, unjust, unreasonable,
156 insufficient, excessive, or unjustly discriminatory or
157 preferential, or in anywise in violation of law, or any service
158 is inadequate or cannot be obtained, the commission shall
159 determine and by order fix the affordable, fair, and reasonable
160 rates, rentals, charges or classifications, and reasonable
161 rules, regulations, measurements, practices, contracts or
162 service, to be imposed, observed, furnished or followed in the
163 future.
164 (2) The commission shall establish a schedule by which
165 requests for changes to a public utility’s return on equity may
166 be submitted to the commission by each public utility. The
167 commission may not accept a request from a public utility to
168 modify its return on equity outside of this established
169 schedule, except as provided in subsection (3).
170 (3) A public utility may petition the commission to deviate
171 from the return on equity revision schedule established by the
172 commission under subsection (2). The commission shall grant such
173 petition if:
174 (a) The public utility’s rates are insufficient to yield
175 reasonable compensation for the services it is rendering;
176 (b) This insufficiency is due to circumstances that are
177 outside of the control of the public utility; and
178 (c) Such circumstances were not reasonably foreseeable by
179 the public utility during the last proceeding in which its
180 return on equity was approved by the commission.
181 (4) The commission shall adopt rules to implement this
182 section.
183 Section 8. Section 366.077, Florida Statutes, is created to
184 read:
185 366.077 Report on rates.—The commission shall submit an
186 annual report to the Governor and the Legislature by March 1.
187 (1) The report must include all of the following:
188 (a) An investigation of contemporary economic analyses
189 related to rate changes in this state.
190 (b) An analysis of potential cost impacts to utility
191 customers in this state if excess returns on equity have
192 occurred and, if such excess returns have not occurred at a
193 significant rate, any resulting cost savings to such customers.
194 (c) An analysis of returns on equity models presented by
195 public utilities and used by the commission to determine
196 approved returns on equity for public utilities in this state.
197 Such analysis must:
198 1. Compare models used by federal agencies and other state
199 utility regulatory bodies with those used by the commission;
200 2. Determine whether the models used are generally
201 financially logical; and
202 3. Determine whether the models used comport with generally
203 accepted economic theory both inside and outside of the utility
204 industry.
205 (d) An assessment of long-term impacts, including the
206 economic repercussions of rising rates of returns on equity, to
207 utilities and their future customers.
208 (e) A summary providing detailed information regarding the
209 compensation of the executive officers of each public utility
210 providing service to the residents of this state, or the
211 executive officers of a public utility’s affiliated companies or
212 parent company. Such information must include, but need not be
213 limited to, salaries, benefits, stock options, bonuses, stock
214 buybacks, and other taxable payments, expressed both as dollar
215 amounts and as a percentage of the entity’s total revenue. The
216 summary must include the profits and losses of each entity as
217 reported in its financial statements and highlight any
218 compensation that exceeds the industry average. The commission
219 shall also include any rationale provided by a public utility
220 justifying compensation exceeding the industry average and, for
221 each public utility, an explanation as to the manner in which
222 specific data gathered during the compiling of information
223 informed the commission’s decisions on the public utility’s rate
224 change requests.
225 (2) The report must provide benchmarking, comparing public
226 utilities providing service to the residents of this state with
227 public utilities providing service to the residents of other
228 states, and include commentary on all findings.
229 Section 9. Section 366.8261, Florida Statutes, is created
230 to read:
231 366.8261 Interim storm-recovery cost.—
232 (1) As used in this section, the term:
233 (a) “Electric utility” has the same meaning as in s.
234 366.8255.
235 (b) “Storm” has the same meaning as in s. 366.8260.
236 (c) “Storm-recovery charge” has the same meaning as in s.
237 366.8260.
238 (d) “Storm-recovery costs” has the same meaning as in s.
239 366.8260.
240 (2) The commission shall permit an electric utility to
241 implement a storm-recovery charge to recover reasonably
242 estimated storm-recovery costs within 60 days after filing a
243 petition with the commission for the recovery from one or more
244 storms, subject to all of the following conditions:
245 (a) Such charge must be on an interim basis. The
246 commission’s approval of interim storm-recovery costs and a
247 related storm-recovery charge must be on a preliminary basis and
248 is subject to refund pending further review once the total
249 actual storm-recovery costs are known. After the actual costs
250 are reviewed for prudence and reasonableness and are compared to
251 the actual amount recovered through the interim storm-recovery
252 charge, the commission shall determine whether any over or under
253 recovery has occurred. The disposition of any over or under
254 recovery, and associated interest, must be considered by the
255 commission at a separate true-up proceeding.
256 (b) Storm-recovery costs may not include any expenses
257 already being recovered by the utility in its base rates.
258 (c) The commission may require a utility to secure funds
259 collected pursuant to this section to ensure timely refund to
260 customers in the event of over recovery.
261 (3) In approving an application for interim storm-recovery
262 costs pursuant to subsection (2), the commission shall also
263 establish a recovery period for such interim costs. This
264 recovery period shall be based upon a reasonable balancing of
265 all of the following factors:
266 (a) The financial impact of the length of the recovery
267 period on the utility.
268 (b) Timeliness of recovery.
269 (c) Affordability to ratepayers.
270 (d) Avoiding sudden substantial bill increases to
271 ratepayers.
272 (4) Funds collected pursuant to this section are subject to
273 true-up. The commission shall require that any refund to or
274 additional collection from ratepayers made as a part of the
275 true-up include interest.
276 (5) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a
277 public utility from applying for, or the commission approving,
278 storm-recovery financing pursuant to s. 366.8260.
279 (6) The commission shall adopt rules to implement this
280 section as soon as practicable, but no later than January 1,
281 2027.
282 Section 10. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) and subsection
283 (3) of section 367.081, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
284 367.081 Rates; procedure for fixing and changing.—
285 (2)(a)1. The commission shall, either upon request or upon
286 its own motion, fix rates which are affordable, just,
287 reasonable, compensatory, and not unfairly discriminatory. In
288 every such proceeding, the commission shall consider the value
289 and quality of the service and the cost of providing the
290 service, which shall include, but not be limited to, debt
291 interest; the requirements of the utility for working capital;
292 maintenance, depreciation, tax, and operating expenses incurred
293 in the operation of all property used and useful in the public
294 service; and a fair return on the investment of the utility in
295 property used and useful in the public service. However, the
296 commission shall not allow the inclusion of contributions-in
297 aid-of-construction in the rate base of any utility during a
298 rate proceeding, nor shall the commission impute prospective
299 future contributions-in-aid-of-construction against the
300 utility’s investment in property used and useful in the public
301 service; and accumulated depreciation on such contributions-in
302 aid-of-construction shall not be used to reduce the rate base,
303 nor shall depreciation on such contributed assets be considered
304 a cost of providing utility service.
305 2. For purposes of such proceedings, the commission shall
306 consider utility property, including land acquired or facilities
307 constructed or to be constructed within a reasonable time in the
308 future, not to exceed 24 months after the end of the historic
309 base year used to set final rates unless a longer period is
310 approved by the commission, to be used and useful in the public
311 service, if:
312 a. Such property is needed to serve current customers;
313 b. Such property is needed to serve customers 5 years after
314 the end of the test year used in the commission’s final order on
315 a rate request as provided in subsection (6) at a growth rate
316 for equivalent residential connections not to exceed 5 percent
317 per year; or
318 c. Such property is needed to serve customers more than 5
319 full years after the end of the test year used in the
320 commission’s final order on a rate request as provided in
321 subsection (6) only to the extent that the utility presents
322 clear and convincing evidence to justify such consideration.
323
324 Notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph, the commission
325 shall approve rates for service which allow a utility to recover
326 from customers the full amount of environmental compliance
327 costs. Such rates may not include charges for allowances for
328 funds prudently invested or similar charges. For purposes of
329 this requirement, the term “environmental compliance costs”
330 includes all reasonable expenses and fair return on any prudent
331 investment incurred by a utility in complying with the
332 requirements or conditions contained in any permitting,
333 enforcement, or similar decisions of the United States
334 Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Environmental
335 Protection, a water management district, or any other
336 governmental entity with similar regulatory jurisdiction.
337 (3) The commission, in fixing rates, may determine the
338 prudent cost of providing service during the period of time the
339 rates will be in effect following the entry of a final order
340 relating to the rate request of the utility and may use such
341 costs to determine the revenue requirements that will allow the
342 utility to earn a fair rate of return on its rate base. Any
343 financial model used by the commission in setting and evaluating
344 the return on equity for a utility as part of a proceeding
345 fixing rates must be:
346 (a) Financially logical; and
347 (b) Generally used and accepted by finance practitioners
348 both within and outside of the regulated utility industry.
349 Section 11. Paragraph (b) of subsection (5) of section
350 377.814, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
351 377.814 Municipal Solid Waste-to-Energy Program.—
352 (5) FUNDING.—
353 (b) Funds awarded under the grant programs set forth in
354 this section may not be used to support, subsidize, or enable
355 the sale of electric power generated by a municipal solid waste
356 to-energy facility to any small electric utility eligible to
357 petition the commission under s. 366.06(5) s. 366.06(4).
358 Section 12. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.
359 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
360 And the title is amended as follows:
361 Delete everything before the enacting clause
362 and insert:
363 A bill to be entitled
364 An act relating to the Florida Public Service
365 Commission; amending s. 350.01, F.S.; revising the
366 membership of the Florida Public Service Commission;
367 creating s. 350.0615, F.S.; requiring a group of
368 parties to certain proceedings to negotiate the terms
369 of a settlement with the Public Counsel before
370 presenting such settlement to the commission; creating
371 s. 350.129, F.S.; requiring that orders issued by the
372 commission contain adequate support and rationale for
373 any conclusions made by the commission; requiring the
374 commission to provide an explanation and a discussion
375 of major elements and rationale of the settlement when
376 the commission issues an order accepting or denying
377 certain settlement agreements; providing that the
378 Public Counsel is not a required party to any such
379 settlements; prohibiting the commission from approving
380 certain settlements that are not negotiated with the
381 Public Counsel; creating s. 350.130, F.S.; authorizing
382 certain persons to make a motion to intervene in a
383 pending commission proceeding; providing requirements
384 for an association’s motion to intervene in certain
385 commission proceedings; requiring the commission to
386 make certain rulings in a specified timeframe to avoid
387 certain expenses; creating s. 350.131, F.S.; requiring
388 the commission to consider and address the
389 affordability of proceedings that have certain
390 potential impacts; amending s. 366.06, F.S.;
391 authorizing the commission to fix affordable, in
392 addition to fair, just, and reasonable, rates;
393 requiring that certain applications for changes in
394 rates be made according to a certain schedule and
395 procedure; requiring that certain requests for a
396 change in return on equity be made according to a
397 certain schedule and procedure; conforming provisions
398 to changes made by the act; providing requirements for
399 any financial model used by the commission to set and
400 evaluate the return on equity for a public utility;
401 requiring the commission to consider and address
402 certain financial benefits and reductions of certain
403 risks provided by specified cost financing systems or
404 other processes when setting and evaluating the return
405 on equity for a public utility; amending s. 366.07,
406 F.S.; conforming provisions to changes made by the
407 act; requiring the commission to establish a schedule
408 by which requests for changes to a public utility’s
409 return on equity may be submitted to the commission by
410 each public utility company; prohibiting the
411 commission from accepting certain requests from a
412 public utility to modify its return on equity outside
413 of its schedule; providing an exception; authorizing a
414 public utility to petition the commission to deviate
415 from the return on equity revision schedule; requiring
416 the commission to grant the petition under certain
417 circumstances; requiring the commission to adopt
418 rules; creating s. 366.077, F.S.; requiring the
419 commission to provide a report to the Governor and the
420 Legislature by a specified date annually; providing
421 requirements for the report; creating s. 366.8261,
422 F.S.; defining terms; requiring the commission to
423 permit an electric utility to implement a certain
424 charge within a specified timeframe after the electric
425 utility files a certain petition, subject to specified
426 conditions; requiring the commission to establish a
427 recovery period for interim storm-recovery costs,
428 based upon a reasonable balancing of certain factors;
429 subjecting certain funds to true-up; providing
430 construction; requiring the commission to adopt rules;
431 amending s. 367.081, F.S.; providing requirements for
432 financial models used by the commission in setting and
433 evaluating the return on equity for a utility;
434 conforming provisions to changes made by the act;
435 amending s. 377.814, F.S.; conforming a cross
436 reference; providing an effective date.