Hearings over FPL’s rate case delayed

 The utility company announced it reached an agreement for a potential settlement  Monday was supposed to mark the beginning of two weeks of continuous — and probably contentious — public hearings over Florida Power & Light’s nearly $10 billion request to hike its customers’ base rates on their electric bills, the largest requested hike in American history. Instead, regulators on the Florida Public Service Commission pressed pause on the case’s progress in the public eye. That’s because the utility company on Friday announced it and some of the groups involved in the case had reached an agreement for a potential settlement. Those negotiations happen behind closed doors. But the utility commissioners on Monday also assured the Office of the Public Counsel, which represents consumers, that they would still get the chance to grill the company’s witnesses and closely scrutinize the case. The public counsel, plus other groups advocating for residents, are not working on the potential settlement, and all opposed the motion to suspend the hearings. Meanwhile, those working with Florida Power & Light largely represent business interests, including data centers, retail companies and heavy industry, all of whom pay big electric bills.Mike La Rosa, chairperson of the utility commission, said he was committed to making sure “due process is of course protected,” and other commissioners agreed https://enewspaper.sun-sentinel.com/shortcode/SUN315/edition/294fecd6-f613-4604-9fe5-ded36fb0a020?page=3596eadb-225e-4bae-88fc-791b66ec178b&