by Kathy Foster
Clark, who is a Commissioner on the Commission, says the Florida Public Service Commission is committed to making sure that Florida’s consumers receive some of their most essential services — electric, natural gas, telephone, water, and wastewater — in a safe, reasonable, and reliable manner.
In doing so, the PSC exercises regulatory authority over utilities in one or more of three key areas: rate base/economic regulation; competitive market oversight; and monitoring of safety, reliability, and service.
Clark said currently one of the issues being looked at closely by the PSC is the vulnerability of Florida’s utilities that fall under the Commission’s oversight. Those range from telephone and telegraph service, investor-owned electric companies, water, wastewater, airlines and natural gas pipelines.
He said the disruption of those services could cause great hardship on the lives of Floridians.
History of the PSC
 The Public Service Commission was originally created to regulate the railroad industry in Florida. |
| The PSC, created by the Florida Legislature in 1887, was originally called the Florida Railroad Commission. The primary purpose of the Commission was the regulation of railroad passenger and freight rates and operations. The Legislature abolished the Commission in 1891 but re-established it in 1897. |
| As Florida’s population grew and its industrial base diversified, the Legislature conferred upon the Commission additional responsibilities. These ever-changing charges include periods of both regulatory expansion and deregulation. Regulatory authority over various industries began as follows: |
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| In 1974 the Legislature gave the Commission rate structure jurisdiction over municipal and rural cooperative electric utilities. Due to deregulation, the Commission lost jurisdiction over airlines in 1978. In 1980, motor carriers were deregulated; five years later, railroads were deregulated. The Commission received safety jurisdiction over all electric utilities in 1986. And in 1995, legislation was approved allowing competition for local exchange telephone service. |
| In 2011, legislation was approved that reduced the Commission’s jurisdiction over the telecommunications industry. The Commission retains the authority to ensure that incumbent local exchange carriers meet their obligation to provide unbundled access, interconnection, and resale to competitive local exchange companies in a nondiscriminatory manner. And, the Commission oversees the federal Lifeline Assistance program in Florida, and the administration of a statewide telecommunications access system to provide Telecommunications Relay Services for the deaf, hard-of-hearing, or speech impaired. |
For more information on the services the Public Service Commission does and does not regulate, go to the brochure entitled When to Call the PSC .