By Mitch Perry at The Florida Phoenix

Jolly says he wants to cap the power companies’ returns on investment. Donalds says caps don’t work.

TAMPA — Among the policy proposals that David Jolly is offering in his campaign for governor is a declaration that he wants to cap the return on investment (ROI) Florida’s major electric utilities are allowed to gather from customers to the national average.

Jolly offered his plan after the Florida Public Service Commission approved a $6.9 billion rate hike for Florida Power & Light last fall that included an ROI of 10.95%. That’s while the national average for ROIs is around 9.7%, according to Synapse Energy Economics Inc.

That idea of a cap on ROI was dismissed during a press conference in Tampa Tuesday by U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, the leading candidate in the Republican primary for governor in August.

“One thing we know about when a government decides to institute caps, what you actually end up getting is worse service, because what ends up happening is you don’t have the capital that goes into invest into the future of your electric grid. So, a cap might sound good politically, but it’s a terrible solution,” Donalds said.

The member of Congress from Naples went on to compare capping ROI to rent-control policies in places like his hometown of New York City, which he says has backfired and led to rents increasing in units that don’t have rent control capacity.

“If you bring in caps when it comes to utilities, all you’re going to see is a degradation of the electric rates,” he added. “You’re not going to see the investments into that grid to make sure that it’s durable. Not just for today, but for what the future of Florida is going to look like.”

Jolly fired back when informed of Donalds comments.

“I’m glad to see Byron is honest with the voters that he supports the highest rate utility increase in American history — because that’s what happened to Florida consumers and that’s what he’s now defending,” he said in an email statement to the Phoenix. “I congratulate him on his audacity.”

Consumer advocacy groups who opposed the FPL agreement say it was the biggest utility rate hike in U.S. history.

Donalds said his plan to lower energy bills for Floridians includes “small modular nuclear reactors, micro-nuclear reactors. There’s some promising green shoots when it comes to hydrogen. This state needs another natural gas pipeline. That’s what we should be focusing on going forward. It’s how do we build out a cheap electric generation base.”

For his part, Jolly has discussed using more clean and renewable energy sources across Florida, including “requiring greater integration of clean energy technologies into our public utilities.”

The CLEO Institute, a climate change advocacy group, reports that Donalds has received $1.79 million in campaign contributions from Florida’s major power utilities over the years, trailing only Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson among Florida leaders.

Donalds spoke with a group of reporters after receiving the endorsement for governor from the Florida Chamber of Commerce, holding its “Workforce Solution Summit” at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay Hotel on Tuesday.

While many Republicans — including Gov. Ron DeSantis — have bemoaned the fact that there will not be a debate among the GOP candidates for governor this Saturday at the Republican Party of Florida’s summer convention in South Florida, Donalds said in response to a Phoenix reporter’s question that he likely won’t engage in any debates until his main competitors, Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, former House Speaker Paul Renner, and investment firm CEO James Fishback, raise their polling numbers significantly.

“The truth is they’re polling in single digits. The truth is we’re polling around 52%-55% in the polls right now today. The truth is, they don’t have campaigns that can actually help them raise their ability to get recognized by the voters of Florida. That’s the truth. And the truth is, they’re not viable campaigns, by any measure you want to put out there. If you look at their campaigns, for a couple of them, put their titles away for a moment but look at their campaigns, they are not viable statewide campaigns.

“Everybody knows this. This is not a secret. It is not a shock. So, if they were viable, like meaning that they were polling in double digits and actually raising resources, and you can see them actually having a real impact on the ground, we would debate tomorrow. I would not hesitate. I actually love a good debate. But what we’re not going to do is, we’re not going to elevate campaigns that have not demonstrated an ability to be viable on their own.”

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