Commissioners Clark, Passidomo-Smith Among Six Finalists for PSC Openings

Article reposted with permission from The News Service of Florida.

Two sitting members of the Florida Public Service Commission were among six finalists interviewed and forwarded on Friday to Gov. Ron DeSantis for two upcoming openings on the five-member utility regulatory board.

Commissioners Gary Clark and Gabriella Passidomo-Smith, whose terms expire in January, are seeking reappointment to their positions, which pay nearly $159,000 per year.

The Public Service Commission Nominating Council, which asked one question and had little comment during the 40-minute interview process, cut no one from the list of six finalists interviewed for the openings Friday at Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland.

In addition to Clark and Passidomo-Smith, the finalists are: Kelly Bennett, an attorney in Tallahassee with a background in health care; Susyn Stecchi, a freelance digital marketing contractor who has been the water conservation program manager for Pompano Beach and energy conservation director for Broward College; Stacia Foster, an attorney who recently relocated back to Tallahassee from South Florida; and Ivan Maldonado, who has held leadership positions with transportation agencies in South Florida, Hillsborough County, Tallahassee and Polk County.

The six were asked to interview during virtual meetings in August.

Clark and Passidomo-Smith were reappointed by DeSantis to four-year terms in 2022.

Clark, who previously was a deputy secretary at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, has been on the commission since 2017.

Passidomo-Smith, a former Public Service Commission attorney and a daughter of Republican state Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, a former Senate President from Naples, was first appointed to the commission by DeSantis in May 2021.

The only question during the session, directed to Clark and posed by nominating council member Mack Bernard, a Democratic state Senator from West Palm Beach, was about the commission’s role in the discussion of data centers.

Clark called the issue "complex," as there is an open case regarding data centers “that is before us.”

“There’s no question the commission’s responsibility is making sure that the Legislature’s wishes are carried out,” Clark added.

Legislation signed by DeSantis earlier this year (SB 484) requires the commission to develop what are known as “tariffs” and service requirements to “reasonably ensure that each large load customer bears its own full cost of service and that such cost is not shifted to the general body of ratepayers.”

The measure also reinforces the ability of local governments to refuse to build data centers in their jurisdictions. But it also allows city and county governments to enter into non-disclosure agreements with tech companies for up to 12 months, which would hide data center proposals from the public during that time.

DeSantis has disputed job creation numbers promoted by supporters of such facilities and worries about the future effect on humanity from maturing AI technology.

DeSantis will have 30 days to make his picks from the six names.