House and Senate Municipal Utility Bills are Both Up on Tuesday
HB 1331 (Busatta Cabrera) substantially impacts municipal water and electric utility extraterritorial surcharges and service, and transfers of enterprise funds to general revenue.

HB 1331 will be considered by the House Energy, Communications and Cybersecurity Subcommittee on Tuesday, March 21, at 2:00 pm. A Proposed Committee Substitute (PCS) has been filed to HB 1331 that applies to all municipal water, wastewater, gas and electric utilities. The PCS:

  • Does not require PSC regulation/oversight
  • Does not prohibit transfers of utility revenues into the general fund
  • Instead, the bill allows the use of a portion of utility revenues to fund general government functions. The transfer rate must be based on an average of the rate of return approved by the PSC for private utilities. The transfer rate must be reduced based on the percentage of extraterritorial customers served.
  • No longer prohibits extraterritorial surcharges
  • Instead, the bill eliminates the default statutory 25% surcharge in 180.191(1)(a), Florida Statutes. It retains the surcharge in 180.191(1)(b), but reduces it from 50% to 25%. 
SB 1380 (Martin) provides that any municipal electric utility serving any electric retail customer located outside of the municipality’s corporate boundaries is a “public utility” subject to regulation by the Public Service Commission (PSC) for a minimum of five years. It is expected a similar amendment will be filed to line the bill up with HB 1331.

SB 1380 will be considered by the Senate Regulated Industries Committee on Tuesday, March 21 at 2:30 pm
 
Please contact Rebecca O’Hara with any questions.
 
The League will keep you updated on any developments on these bills.
Thank you for your advocacy efforts!