Obama to visit Tampa to tout smart grid?

Our colleagues at The Buzz are reporting that President Obama's upcoming visit to Tampa next Tuesday may be to highlight his vision for a revamped national energy network, the so-called smart grid.

Obama's stimulus package contains $4.5 billion in funding for a smart grids, which would tap into wind and solar and other green energy sources and transmit it to large urban areas, such as Tampa and Miami. The New York Times, in a story on Boulder, Colo., becoming the first big test area for the technology, calls smart grids "the most ambitious move the United States could make toward cutting its emissions from burning fossil fuels."

Big corporations are jumping on the bandwagon too. General Electric -- which recently started an experiment in Hawaii that saves energy by turning off household appliances when electricity is expensive and makes better use of wind and solar power -- is joining with Whirlpool and other companies to demonstrate the role of smart grid technologies in battling climate change.

--Craig Pittman

PSC says yes to charging in advance for nukes, staff says no to conservation

Our colleagues over at The Buzz are reporting that the Florida Public Service Commission rejected arguments from environmentalists and clean-energy advocates and voted 3-1 today to approve a request by Progress Energy, and Florida Power & Light to charge customers four new nuclear power plants that wouldn't generate any voltage until 2017.

The lone no vote came from Commissioner Nancy Argenziano, whom FPL on Thursday accused of being biased and unethical.

The decision allows Progress Energy to charge customers customers $213 million, or $5.86 a month per 1,000 kilowatt hour, to upgrate its Crystal River nuclear power plant and build two new nuclear units in Levy County.And FPL gets to raise $63 million and add 67 cents per 1,000 kilowatt hours to customer monthly bills to pay for the pre-construction costs of two nuclear units at its Turkey Point Plant in Miami-Dade County and to add two new units to its St. Lucie County plant

Meanwhile though, the PSC's staff has recommended against adopting strict energy conservation goals for the utilities. The reason, according to the Sun-Sentinel: they think that conserving too much energy would cost customers more.

Last year, at the behest of Gov. Charlie Crist, the Legislature passed a law requiring the commission to adopt efficiency goals that encourage lowering energy use.

However, as the paper notes, "Utilities often oppose lowering energy use because that means less in electricity sales and profit. FPL officials project a rate increase of about $4 billion over the next 10 years if they used aggressive goals recommended by environmentalists."

Environmental activists contend that if the PSC adopts tougher conservation goals, the Sun-Sentinel reports, "customers' bills would decrease over the long-term both because they'd use less electricity and it would eliminate the need for new FPL power plants, which customers pay for through rates."

--Craig Pittman

Florida solar energy industry now backing offshore oil drilling too

Backers of a drive to open up Florida's near-shore waters to offshore drilling picked up a new ally today: the Florida Solar Energy Industries Association.

Yes, you read that right. Solar backs Oil. The reason for these strange bedfellows: Money. The revenue that the state could reap from allowing drilling for oil five miles off Florida's gulf beaches could act as a bridge to help the state promote alternative energy for the future, the association said in a press release.

"“We believe the proposal to tap these energy resources, with stringent environmental protections, can help move our state toward renewable energies that will reduce our country’s dependence on fossil fuels,” explained association executive director Bruce Kershner. Here's the full text of the announcement: Download FlaSEIA rls 10-1-09

--Craig Pittman

Who's pushing to drill off Florida's coast, and what does Florida get in return?

After months of controversy over the proposal to overturn Florida's longtime ban on oil drilling in state waters, a pair of stories in today's St. Petersburg Times explore who's pushing to drill, and what Florida might get out of it.

Florida Energy Associates LLC, the secretive group behind the effort, has mounted an expensive lobbying effort to convince state lawmakers to overturn the ban. Incoming House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, and incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Melbourne, say they favor lifting the ban -- although critics are quick to point out that neither represents a district that would be affected by oil spills like the one still going on off Australia.

So far the only oilman identified as part of the group is M. Lance Phillips (pictured), 49, of Mexia, Texas, who in addition to running an oil business is a Republican Party official, trophy hunter, exotic-game rancher, high school coach and avid fisherman. He says: ""We really do want to do for Florida what oil and gas has done for Texas."

--Craig Pittman

Huge oil spill off Australia cited by opponents of drilling off Florida

On Aug. 21, oil began bubbling out from an offshore rig about 90 miles from Australia's coast. The leak, which apparently started as a blowout 11,500 feet below the surface, soon coated 1,800 square nautical miles of surface of the Timor Sea. It's still going. Every day it's spewing out another 300 and 400 barrels of oil.

The rig's owner, PTTEP Australasia, says it could take another six weeks before it can drill a new well and cap off the old one, and there's no telling how much larger the spill will get in the meantime. The Australian Broadscasting Corporation is already reporting on fears that the slick is moving toward continent's western coast, known for being a wilderness full of endangered species.

Expect to start hearing a lot about this spill as state legislative leaders and Gov. Charlie Crist discuss using next month's special session to vote on allowing similar rigs to start drilling in the Gulf of Mexico a mere five miles off Florida's gleaming white beaches.

Opponents of drilling such as the Surfrider Foundation are posting pictures of the spill online and citing it as an example of why Crist and the Legislature should reject this latest bid for drilling, despite a secretive but well-funded oil industry lobbying effort.

This spill, and one from a Louisiana offshore pipeline, were reason enough for the Pensacola News Journal's editorial page to oppose Crist and the Legislature, concluding: "No doubt today's drilling and production rigs are more advanced than in the past. But it still takes only a single spill to spread disaster across Florida's beaches."

However, according to a spokesman for the unnamed California and Texas-based energy interests lobbying to open up Florida's near-shore waters to drilling, the Australian spill means the exact opposite. "This incident on the other side of the world  provides a real time example of one reason why Florida should lift the ban and impose rigorous standards," said Ryan Banfill of Ron Sachs Communications. "It is important to remember the Cubans and Bahamians will be drilling next door likely requiring weaker standards. Florida has to take action, lift the ban and establish high standards. Then we will be able to lead by example and strengthen our hand in demanding high standards from those countries."     

[Photo: Perth Now]

--Craig Pittman

FDLE investigation looks at PSC staffers' relationships to utilities

Staff members at Florida's Public Service Commission are being investigated for possible improper relationships with the utilities they regulate, according to a report published in the St. Petersburg Times and the Miami Herald.

The investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is based on a complaint apparently directed at a staff member of the PSC. The complaint could be connected to an alleged violation of PSC ethics rules when one senior staff member attended a Kentucky Derby Party at the Palm Beach Gardens home of an FPL executive.

The investigation comes as the PSC is conducting hearings on a request by Florida Power & Light to raise its base rates 30 percent beginning next year.

David Adams, Times Staff Writer

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Oil companies step up push to drill in Florida water

A secretive group of powerful legislators, business groups and Texas oil companies is pushing for legislation to open Florida waters to oil exploration and end the 20-year drilling moratorium, the St Petersburg Times reported yesterday (Aug 30).

Florida Energy Associates, has hired lobbyists, public relations experts, a financial consultant and a pollster to help advocate for the sale of drilling leases in state waters between the shore and 10 miles off Florida's Gulf Coast, writes reporter Mary Ellen Klas.

Since May the group has contributed $55,000 to political parties, $35,000 to Republicans and $20,000 to Democrats.

(Photo by Chris Zuppa)

So much for Gov. Green: Crist postpones 3rd climate change summit (but asks sponsors for campaign cash)

"Gov. Charlie Crist's plans for a third high-profile climate summit have been indefinitely postponed as the Republican weighs the political cost of the event's expensive price tag," the Palm Beach Post is reporting.

Crist made national headlines in 2007 with his first Miami climate-change summit, featuring such speakers as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He was written up in Time and interviewed on the CBS Early Show. Environmental groups sang his praises, and Schwarzenegger called him "another great action hero."  Crist followed it up with a second one last year.

But his global warming initiatives -- including new tailpipe emissions standards for cars modeled on California's new regulations -- ran into strong opposition from the Legislature. Now he's worried about mounting another expensive summit while the economy is in a recession, the Post says.

However, that's not stopping him "from asking the event's sponsors to help pay for his U.S. Senate campaign," the Post says. "Campaign finance reports show Crist has collected $106,500 from individuals and companies tied to previous sponsors of his climate summits."

In fact, the paper noted, "Executives from at least three companies - Walt Disney and Darden Restaurants in Orlando and TECO Energy in Tampa - have donated more to Crist's campaign than their companies gave to the 2008 summit."

[AP: Schwarzenegger and Crist]

--Craig Pittman

Crist, Cabinet okay new nuke plant in Levy County

Gov. Charlie Crist and the Cabinet voted today to approve Progress Energy's plan to build a new nuclear plant in Levy County, the first to be built in Florida since 1976.

Crist lauded the nuclear plant as a source of nonpolluting power generation and praised the “diversification of energy” the plant will produce. Attorney General Bill McCollum noted the "passion" of the plant's opponents who are concerned about the plant's impact on wetlands and other environmental issues. But McCollum said the plant will help supply needed power in coming years.

“We are leaving a legacy of waste," complained one opponent, state Rep. Michelle Rehwinkle-Vasilinda. "It is not truly clean. There is waste, and it has to be permanently disposed. We have not figured out how to do that, and I am concerned.”

So far the source of the greatest controversy over the plant has not been the environmental impact but its economics, thanks to a state law that allows the utility to charge its customers in advance to build the $17  billion plant. Meanwhile, Progress Energy has been forced to delay the start of construction by federal permitting issues, and it faces a legal challenge to its permit as well.

Shannon Colavecchio and Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writers

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Florida's solar program as popular as "Cash for Clunkers" -- and keeps going broke too

 Sure, not everybody likes the "Cash for Clunkers" program (like Sen. Mel Martinez, for instance). But there's no denying that it's popular -- so popular that it ran out of cash in four days and needed an additional infusion of money.

Turns out there's a program in Florida with a similar popularity problem.

"The Florida solar rebate program is so successful that it keeps running out of money, forcing Florida residents and businesses that install solar energy systems to gamble on the possibility that they’ll never see the state’s promised payback," the South Florida Business Journal reports.

The Journal explains: "For those willing to purchase solar photovoltaic panels, the state promises a cash rebate that can comprise 40 percent to 50 percent of a system’s total cost. Add that to a 30 percent federal tax break and the incentive to go solar is stronger than ever, South Florida solar business owners say."

But the three-year-old program currently has a $7 million backlog for approved rebates that haven't been paid yet. About $5 million in federal stimulus funds is being funneled into the program this year and another $9.4 million more expected, the Journal reports.

“We’ve been victims of our own success,” said Florida House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Delray Beach, a solar energy supporter, told the paper. “There hasn’t been enough money to sustain the amount of people who want to apply.”

[Times photo by Lara Cerri]

--Craig Pittman