Citing “new information” the Public Service Commission has recommend that hearings over the merger between Constellation Energy and Florida Power and Light be “canceled.”
The recommendation, made Friday, said that new information “necessitates the cancellation of the hearing” on Tuesday, and proposes rescheduling the hearings for May 5th, according to a letter written by PSC attorney Andrew Beach and obtained by The Examiner.
The recommendation was in response to a petition filed by half a dozen consumer activists, who argued they could not adequately prepare for the merger hearing until the details of Governor?s Erhlich?s rate deal with Constellation Energy was revealed. Tyson Slocum, spokesman for Public Citizen, a consumer activist group, said that the recommendation if adopted, means that the rate hike debate could continue:
“This recommendation means that this is not over. The governor?s so-called little deal will not stand, he said.
The deal is seen as a victory for many of the groups that are seeking to use the approval of the Constellation merger as an opportunity to contest the proposed rate hike. Slocum said consumer groups that petitioned the commission to halt the hearings want the opportunity to question the role of the merger in rate hikes before the PSC.
“To approve the merger without addressing the underlying failure of deregulation could make a bad situation worse,” Slocum said.
Tyson is part of a growing chorus of critics who argue the merger should not be approved until the financial details and its impact on rates are better known. They cite large potential payout to executives and use of funds set aside for the decommissioning of Constellation?s Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant to cushion the rate increase as questionable.
“In 2008 we?re going to be back to square one. Another huge rate increase could happen,” Slocum said.
