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© St. Petersburg Times, published February 18, 2002
Visiting financial analysts, who deal in the world of numbers, got a little schooling on Florida politics in Venice last week from a pro.
Walter Revell, chairman of Gov. Jeb Bush's energy study commission, delivered an after-dinner talk at a Progress Energy analyst conference that touched on the state's efforts at electric deregulation, the state of the Legislature and the state in general.
Revell took the opportunity to distance himself and his panel, which finished its work in December, from energy business bad boy Enron.
He said he had a phone talk last year with then-Enron chairman Kenneth Lay, an old friend who got his start as a corporate executive in Winter Park, but the subject was helping Lay's daughter find a job. Revell said he also remembers chatting briefly on a plane with an Enron lobbyist, who said the company was monitoring the commission's work.
The prognosis for the commission's wholesale deregulation proposal isn't good for the current legislative session, Revell said.
Lawmakers are preoccupied with the fight over Senate President John McKay's tax reform proposal and redistricting, he said. State Sen. Tom Lee, a Brandon Republican who served on the commission, has said policymakers "can't handle" the complicated issue.
Revell predicted that Bush, if he wins re-election this year, will press for deregulation in 2003. But he was typically blunt when an analyst asked if people really care.
No, he said. Like his wife, most people just assume someone else will make sure the lights come on when they flip the switch.