How Ron DeSantis helped Florida Power & Light raise electricity rates by $5 billion

[Nevilledog]

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Thomas Kennedy
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Florida Power & Light has gotten its money’s worth from over $3 million in donations to DeSantis, pocketing $1 billion in tax cuts from the DeSantis admin and corporate-friendly legislation that lets them stick Florida consumers with billions in rate hikes.

jasongarcia.substack.com
How Ron DeSantis helped Florida Power & Light raise electricity rates by $5 billion
Florida's first-term governor did more than any other elected official to help the state's biggest power company raise rates on customers by nearly $5 billion over the next four years.
11:46 AM · Sep 8, 2022

https://jasongarcia.substack.com/p/how-ron-desantis-helped-florida-power

It was June 2020, and J.R. Kelly was in trouble.

Kelly was a veteran consumer attorney who had, for the past 12 years, led Florida’s Office of Public Counsel, a small-but-critical state agency that’s sort of like a law firm that represents the public whenever big power companies come looking to raise electricity rates.

For more than a decade, Kelly had been battling the state’s monopoly utility companies on behalf of the people and businesses who are forced to be their customers — particularly Florida Power & Light, the biggest monopoly utility of them all.

Now, FPL was getting ready to ask for another round of rate increases. And the Florida Legislature, where most lawmakers take money from FPL, had just passed a bill to help the company by getting rid of Kelly.

But there was still one person standing in the way: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The Republican governor could have saved Kelly’s job by vetoing the bill and coming out in support of one of the few public officials in Tallahassee who had proven willing to stand up to Florida Power & Light.

DeSantis signed the bill. Kelly resigned a few months later. And soon after Kelly left, the man hired to replace him as Public Counsel helped FPL negotiate a nearly $5 billion rate increase — the largest rate-hike the state of Florida has ever approved.

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[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. Greg Abbott and DeathSantis have a contest as to who can be the biggest asshole/TFG clone

We are paying the Abbottax in Texas due to Greg bailing out the power companies
My power and gas bills were collectively $70 higher last month due to the Abbott tax

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[Ray Bruns]

2. That's what happens when you vote stupid and corrupt in

[Phoenix61]

3. My power bill went from a high of $180 to $230.

I had the ceiling crawl space insulated with spray foam so it’s completely sealed. I hate to think what my bill would be without it. The worst part is I used to have Gulf Power, a co-op. FP&L swore our rates wouldn’t go
upif they were allowed to purchase Gulf Power. Gee, they lied…

[In It to Win It]

4. THIS MOTHERFUCKER HAS GOT TO GO!!!

[jimfields33]

5. They improved the grids. We aren't having blackouts.

I’m glad they were able to do it.

[snowybirdie]

6. Compared to Chicago's

power rates my FPL charges are cheap. Went up about $10 last month, the hottest August in history. As