Florida Utility Commissioners Face Ethics Questions Over Retreat

Two of Florida's five utility commissioners attended an all-expenses-paid retreat in July at The Ben Hotel in West Palm Beach, drawing criticism from state officials over potential ethics violations.

Commissioners Mike La Rosa and Bobby Payne attended the three-day event hosted by the Regulators Roundtable Institute, a Virginia nonprofit. The organization covered their lodging and travel costs. Rooms at The Ben Hotel start at over $500 per night.

State Senator Don Gaetz, R-Crestview, said the trip crossed an ethical line. "If public service commissioners take free food, lodging and other amenities from companies they are or will be regulating, that seems to me to be a violation of the Florida code of ethics," Gaetz said.

Devyn Irvin, a Florida Public Service Commission spokesperson, said state ethics law permits the nonprofit to cover "event-related" expenses for featured speakers. Irvin added that the Regulators Roundtable does not accept funding from utilities regulated by the Florida commission and that no regulated utilities sponsored the retreat.

Neither Irvin nor Regulators Roundtable president Elizabeth Gianini disclosed the nonprofit's donors or event sponsors.

Nancy Argenziano, who chaired the Florida Public Service Commission from 2007 to 2010, rejected the practice regardless of its legal status. "Even if the trip adhered to state ethics laws, such closed-door interactions give utility industry insiders private access to officials who decide whether to approve rate increases affecting millions of households," she said.

La Rosa and Payne are former Republican state lawmakers appointed to the commission by Governor Ron DeSantis. The Regulators Roundtable, created last year, has not yet filed required paperwork reporting its donors to the federal government.