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

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

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

TECO to cut hundreds from work force by Sept. 30

St. Petersburg Times business columnist Robert Trigaux is reporting that Tampa Electric Co. will eliminate 225 jobs by the end of this month.

TECO, which employs about 4,400 in all its divisions, has not had significant job cuts since 2003, Trigaux notes.

--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

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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White House announces $2.4 billion stimulus for electric car battery manufacturing

President Obama today announced $2.4 billion in grants to accelerate the manufacturing and deployment of the next generation of U.S. batteries and electric vehicles. The announcement marks the single largest investment in advanced battery technology for hybrid and electric-drive vehicles ever made, the White House said.

That includes $95-million for Saft Batteries to build a factory in Jacksonville to manufacture lithium-ion batteries for use in Ford vehicles that are then shipped to utilities -- including Progress Energy -- to test-drive and use.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson and Progress CEO Bill Johnson held a joint press conference in St. Petersburg with U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor this afternoon to announce that particular grant. They were accompanied by officials from Ford.

"The global growth industry of the 21st century is clean energy," Jackson said during the brief news conference. "Today we're firing the starting gun."

Although Castor, D-Tampa, predicted Progress Energy (or "Pioneer" as Jackson called it twice) would put "many of these cars on the road," Johnson said afterward that the actual number would be "in the single digits."

The stimulus funds that include the grant to Saft will go to 48 manufacturers in over 20 states, creating tens of thousands of jobs.

"If we want to reduce our dependence on oil, put Americans back to work and reassert our manufacturing sector as one of the greatest in the world, we must produce the advanced, efficient vehicles of the future," Obama said, speaking in Elkhart, Indiana. For a rundown of some of the other big grant recipients, check this Washington Post story.

[Lisa Jackson with President Obama, AP]

- David Adams and Craig Pittman, Times staff writers

McCollum, Sink do not support offshore drilling

Florida's legislative leaders may be pushing hard to allow offshore drilling close to the coast of Florida. But neither major-party candidate for governor supports the move, according to WFSU-FM.

Republican candidate Bill McCollum said he wasn't in favor of it, and Democratic candidate Alex Sink agreed, citing her concern about the impact dirty beaches might have on the state's the $50-billion tourist industry, according to the radio report.

Meanwhile, one of the key arguments for allowing drilling close to Florida -- the attempt by Cuba to drill off its own coast, just south of the Keys -- has suffered a setback.

"Cuba and a consortium of foreign oil companies have once again postponed plans to drill for oil in the island's still-untapped fields in the gulf," Reuters reported recently. A Spanish company drilled a test well 20 miles off Cuba's northern coast in 2004, finding traces of high-quality oil, and there have been repeated promises that a second well would follow shortly -- "but each time the project has been put off without explanation."

[AP photos: Alex Sink, left; Bill McCollum, right]

Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer

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