Gov. Ron DeSantis appoints Gabriella Passidomo to Public Service Commission

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced his appointment of Gabriella Passidomo to the Florida Public Service Commission on Monday.

Passidomo, a lawyer in the Regulatory Analysis Section of the PSC Office of the General Counsel, was chosen among nine applicants to fill the seat left vacant in February by former Commissioner Julie Brown. Brown vacated the seat after DeSantis appointed her to lead the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

The position pays $135,997 a year. 

Passidomo, who is the daughter of Naples Republican Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, graduated cum laude from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in political science and earned her law degree from the Washington and Lee University. 

The newly appointed commissioner previously served as a legal intern in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office and as a law clerk for the Florida Solicitor General in the Office of the Attorney General.

Passidomo secured the position over three other finalists, which included Lake Mary Republican Rep. Scott Plakon, PSC chief policy adviser Ana Cristina Ortega and lobbyist Rosanna Manuela Catalano. 

The PSC Nominating Council, which picks the final candidates for the Governor to select from, is made up of 11 members. It is chaired by Rep. Chuck Clemons and includes Sen. Ben Albritton, Sen. Audrey Gibson, Rep. David Silvers and Rep. Cyndi Stevenson.

The commission is made up of five-members. The PSC regulates utilities and is expected to grapple with a series of high-profile issues in the coming years, including complex base-rate cases for electric utilities.

The most recent addition to the PSC was former Rep. Mike La Rosa, a St. Cloud Republican who faced term limits this past year. La Rosa was named by DeSantis in August to serve on the commission, slated to replace Commissioner Donald Polmann, whose four-year term expired in January. Polmann sought reappointment to the $132,036-a-year post.

In addition to La Rosa, Passidomo will join Commissioners Art Graham and Andrew Giles Fay, along with Chair Gary Clark on the board.