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

Showdown at the PSC over Progress Energy, FPL nuke plant charges

As our colleague Robert Trigaux notes in his Venture blog, Friday will bring what promises to be the final showdown at the state Public Service Commission over whether Progress Energy and Florida Power & Light can charge customers years in advance for building new nuclear plants.

Estimated cost for the two plants: $35 billion. The one Progress Energy hopes to build in Levy County accounts for half of that -- $17 billion.

Once viewed as a slam-dunk for the utilities, Trigaux points out, now the question of what the PSC will do is definitely up in the air.

"Critics say investors, not consumers, should bear more of the risk of nuclear power plants," he writes. "And economic circumstances have stalled some of the initial momentum for new nuclear power. Enough so to ask: will Progress Energy itself ultimately decide the nuke plants are no longer worth the growing controversy in the state?"

Further complicating the PSC's decision is Gov. Charlie Crist's selection of two new members in the wake of an ongoing scandal that has led to suggestions that it's time to change how the state regulates its utilities.

--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

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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Gulf of Mexico oil spill tops 58,000 gallons as debate continues on expanding offshore drilling

An underwater pipeline leaked more than 58,000 gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, the New Orleans Times-Picayune is reporting. The spill, which occurred about 30 miles off the Louisiana coast, has now spread to cover 80 square miles -- up from just 28 square miles on Monday. The cause is still under investigation.

The spill "was among the largest in recent years in U.S. waters," Reuters reports.

The spill from Shell Oil's pipeline may not reach land, but its effects are rippling through Florida. Opponents of expanding drilling in the gulf spread the story as yet another reason to keep the eastern gulf clear of offshore rigs (and the pipelines that would bring the oil onshore).

Legislation was introduced this week by Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Mary Landrieu, D-La., that would bring oil drilling to within 45 miles of the coast. Gov. Charlie Crist, who flip-flopped on offshore drilling during last year's presidential race, dodged questions Tuesday about whether he would support this latest bill.

"I've always said it needs to be far enough, clean enough and safe enough to protect Florida's beautiful beaches,'' Crist said. "I also am cognizant of the fact that it sure would be nice to be energy independent. That's a growing concern of an awful lot of people including myself." 

However, state legislators told the Bradenton Herald that they don't think offshore drilling will solve that problem. "“I don’t believe that we’ll ever drill our way to renewable energy,” state Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, said. “Anything that we do in the Gulf of Mexico only delays the inevitable.”

In fact, a study released last week by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory found that Americans used less energy last year, and more of what they used came from renewable sources. "The nation used less coal and petroleum during the same time frame," the report found, "and only slightly increased its natural gas consumption."

--Craig Pittman

EPA lets California set own auto emission standards; Florida can't because of Legislature

As expected, the Environmental Protection Agency today approved California's longstanding application to set tougher auto emission standards as a tool for combating climate change, reports the Associated Press.

"The California regulation requires automakers to increase the fuel economy of cars and trucks sold in the state by 40 percent over the next seven years, to an average of 35.5 mpg," the AP reports. California had been asking for the waiver since 2005, but the EPA under the Bush Administration had turned it down.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, in an agency news release, said the decision "puts the law and science first." As Reuters notes, it comes just over a month "after Obama on May 19 ordered the struggling auto industry to cut emissions and improve gas mileage."

Two years ago, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist signed an executive order that would set the exact same emissions standards as California, as soon as California got its EPA waiver. It would be one of 17 states following California's lead.

But the following year the Legislature passed a law that said Crist couldn't set those standards without legislative approval. And this spring, a bill to approve the tougher emissions standards were held hostage in the House by lawmakers who wanted to allow offshore drilling within 3 miles of Florida's beaches, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. And it didn't even get out of committee in the Senate.

Automakers had hired super-lobbyist Wade Hopping to press their case in Tallahassee, and he successfully argued that Florida lawmakers should wait until there is a national emissions standard rather than simply following what California does, according to the Miami Herald

"You shouldn't give away your authority to another state,'' Hopping said as the bill sputtered and stalled.

Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer

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Obama unveiling 30 percent cut in auto emission standards, setting 1st national greenhouse gas limit

President Obama is expected to announce plans Tuesday "to cut greenhouse gas emissions from new cars and trucks by 30% through 2016, while ending a dispute between the auto industry and California over state-level emissions laws," the Detroit Free Press is reporting.

The plan will set "the first-ever nationwide standard for greenhouse-gas pollution," Bloomberg notes.

"The White House’s top energy, environment and transportation officials have been meeting with automaker executives and other groups as the administration worked to craft a single national policy for vehicle emissions," Bloomberg reports.

"The proposed federal rule would start with 2012 vehicle models and by 2016 models would equate to a fuel-economy standard of slightly less than 35.5 miles per gallon," Bloomberg says.

As the EPA notes, "in numerous cities across the country, the personal automobile is the single greatest polluter, as emissions from millions of vehicles on the road add up."

California has been trying for four years to implement tougher emission standards, only to be blocked by the Bush Administration. Thirteen other states -- including Florida, after Gov. Charlie Crist became best buddies with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- wanted to follow California's lead. Obama promised shortly after taking office that he would direct the agency to take another look at the proposed California standards.

(Here's more coverage from The New York Times and NPR)

--Craig Pittman

Legislature drops ball on Crist's renewable energy, vehicle emission goals

Bills in the Florida House and Senate to promote renewable energy and cut back vehicle emissions sputtered and died on the final day of the regular legislative session Friday -- even though Gov. Charlie Crist backed them.

"Crist got the ball rolling in 2007 with a series of executive orders that called on Florida to reduce its greenhouse emissions and to generate up to 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020..." the St. Petersburg Times noted in an editorial last week. "Crist and environmental advocates even pushed the state's Public Service Commission to raise its targets for renewable energy in an effort to have the Legislature pass an energy bill this year."

But it didn't happen. Senate Bill 1154 passed the Senate but never got out of committee in the House. Meanwhile SB 1994 and HB 1309, which would ratify a Crist initiative to adopt California's tougher vehicle emissions standards, never even made it out of committee in the Senate. They suffered the same fate as House Bill 1317, which would have made it more cost-effective for individual property owners to install solar-power equipment.

All of those bills, noted the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, "were held hostage by House leaders intent on pursuing oil drilling in state waters near the west coast of Florida." But their pro-drilling bill, HB 1219, went nowhere too, thanks to opposition by Crist and Senate leaders.

"After a year of Public Service Commission hearings and countless committee meetings on the subject, Florida will have to wait another year before taking up energy policies that will encourage more renewables and less consumption of fossil fuels," noted Audubon of Florida.

--Craig Pittman

[St. Pete Times photo by Scott Keeler: Gov. Charlie Crist gives his State of the State speech while House Speaker Larry Cretful listens]

Crist gets solar energy award

This morning a group of national and local solar energy advocates gathered in Tallahassee to honor Florida's Governor Charlie Crist for his success in advancing solar energy in the Sunshine State.

The national "Golden Meter Award" is given each year to the policy leaders that advance a type of policy called net metering that gives solar energy system owners credit for the renewable energy they deliver to the electricity grid. (see press release)

In less than one year, solar advocates say Florida went from a lackluster net metering program to one of the best in the nation.
The award was presented by the Network for New Energy Choices, the Solar Alliance, the Vote Solar Initiative, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council and the Florida Solar Energy Industries Association.