The Miami Herald editorial "Solar power vital to state's future" warrants comment.
I'm all for solar power. And thanks to Heaven that FPL finally is getting serious about installing solar power PV in Florida, after years of helping to delay the reform of the regulatory structure to make solar power easy to use for consumers (ie. net metering). On that front, there is still a long, long way to go.
While it is not unusual for a polluter to embrace with environmental leaders (it is happening all the time, now that green is "cool" and cost effective) for an environmental leader like World Wildlife Fund's Debbie Harrison to kumbayah with unabashed praise for FPL, given the company's simultaneous, backroom maneovering to put two new nuclear reactors at Turkey Point, is very troubling.
Yes, you have to pat polluters on the back when they make investments to reform, but it is tricky for environmentalists to be too much in love. That's because with polluters, the record is clear: if one hand giveth, the other hand taketh away.
The last paragraph reads as follows: "Gov. Charlie Crist laid out a vision for Florida that included a dramatic expansion of renewable energy. Last year, the state Legislature provided support for renewables by granting them cost recovery, which all other forms of electricity generation enjoy. This year, the Legislature is slated to consider a ''renewable portfolio standard'' that would drive a significant increase in emissions-free energy production. All of these steps are essential to making Florida a leader in the clean-energy economy of the future."
What the environmentalist and president of FPL fail to note, is the major controversy over FPL's lobbying to rewrite state law to include nuclear power in the definition of "renewable portfolio standard" (a news report from the Palm Beach Post, below, is reprinted). FPL is hell-bent on destroying Biscayne National Park: not by direct impacts from nuclear power, but from rock mining nearby to get fill for its massive footprint and from water supply for the new cooling units that put the entire region at risk. The company is spending vast amounts of ratepayer dollars to push its plan through local and state permitting processes; witholding key aspects of the plan until they can be rushed through at the last moment, according to predetermined outcomes.
By including nuclear in the state requirements for what qualifies to be "renewable", FPL can minimize the effort to get consumers to use solar. Surely, Ms. Harrision knows that FPL and its brethren continue to resist fundamental reform of the regulatory structure in Florida. By centralizing solar through massive PV arrays it owns, FPL can control its business model. When consumers use solar on their rooftops or in their backyards, the control FPL can exert is massively fragmented.
The large-scale centralization of power production has caused major impacts to the environment. Whatever good news there is from FPL should really be tempered by the statements of the environmental community that is still locked in a fight against nuclear power at Turkey Point.
State report backs nuclear power as clean energy
By CHRISTINE STAPLETON
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Florida's energy future should be "clean" - not just "renewable" - and include nuclear power as a source of green energy, according to recommendations from the staff of utility regulators released Wednesday.
The 111-page report is the latest step in the debate over whether power companies can count new nuclear power toward their obligation to generate renewable energy.
The report follows months of lobbying by Florida Power & Light - the state's largest utility and producer of nuclear power - to persuade regulators to create a "Clean Energy Portfolio Standard" rather than a "Renewable Portfolio Standard." Florida statues do not include nuclear power in the definition of "renewable" energy. FPL generates no renewable energy in Florida.
"With a clean-energy standard that includes new nuclear generation as well as wind and solar, we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce costs, dampen fuel price volatility for customers, and meet aggressive targets that should ultimately be adopted by the state, FPL spokesman Mayco Villafana said.
Recent laws and an executive order signed by Gov. Charlie Crist in 2007 ordered the Public Service Commission to draft a "Renewable Portfolio Standard" and set a timetable for utilities to generate 20 percent of their retail energy sales from renewable sources. Of the 27 states that have Renewable Portfolio Standards, Ohio is the only state that includes nuclear power.
The report describes nuclear power as a "cornerstone of an energy efficient Florida." Including nuclear power in the green energy mix "could make it easier" for investor-owned utilities, such as FPL, to meet an earlier deadline to go green. The target date for meeting the 20 percent goal should be 2041, according to the report. That date would put Florida 16 years behind the other states with green energy standards.
"The reason for having a faster Renewable Portfolio Standard - 20 percent by 2020 - is to stimulate growth in solar and other renewable technologies," said Eric Draper, the policy director of Audubon of Florida. "By postponing the deadline they (commission staff) have missed the opportunity to use the Renewable Portfolio Standard to stimulate growth of a green economy in Florida."
The commission will consider the recommendations at a hearing on Jan. 9 and make recommendations to lawmakers Jan. 30. The Legislature will decide the standard.
"The market is already taking off," said Susan Glickman, southern regional director of The Climate Group. "A strong target is needed to encourage investment and unleash those dollars. We need to get started quickly."
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http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2008/12/31/greenenergy_0101.html
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Posted on Sun, Mar. 08, 2009
Solar power vital to state's future
The CEO of a power company and the head of a leading environmental organization never will agree on everything. But we are united on one essential element of Florida's future: the need to bring more solar energy to the state.
Recently, the two of us attended the groundbreaking of FPL's newest solar-power site in Florida, a 25-megawatt facility in DeSoto County. When it is complete later this year, the DeSoto Solar Energy Center will be the largest photovoltaic solar array in the United States. Here's what this one site will accomplish:
• It will power 3,000 homes, or 20 percent of the population of DeSoto County.
• It will decrease FPL's use of fossil fuels by more than 275,000 barrels of oil over the life of the project.
• It will avoid greenhouse-gas emissions equal to taking 4,500 cars off the road every year.
• It will support 200 construction jobs and provide DeSoto County with more than $2 million in additional property-tax revenue through the end of 2010.
Solar power is an amazing technology that is finally coming of age. For more than a century, there was no practical way to capture directly the power of the sun on a large scale. Today we can capture significant amounts of the sun's power directly, through photovoltaic panels that convert sunlight into electricity.
There are tremendous benefits from solar to Florida -- and the world. Solar photovoltaic power is one of the cleanest forms of energy. It emits zero greenhouse gases or other pollutants, uses no water and produces no waste. And because it displaces other, higher-polluting forms of energy generation, solar power makes the air we breathe cleaner. In the face of the daunting challenge of climate change, solar power must become a much larger part of our energy future.
We should not overlook the benefits of solar power for Florida's energy security. We can reduce the state's dependence on oil and gas as major sources of electricity generation. Such fuel diversity will help protect against dramatic swings in the price of fossil fuels.
Finally, solar power will ensure that the state is a key player in the energy economy of the future. The three solar plants that Florida Power & Light is building in the state are a good start, but we must do much more to make Florida a magnet for renewable manufacturers, research dollars and well-paying jobs in a dynamic growth industry.
Florida's electricity needs are huge, and solar is just getting started -- but over the long term we can make Florida a world leader in solar power.
Gov. Charlie Crist laid out a vision for Florida that included a dramatic expansion of renewable energy. Last year, the state Legislature provided support for renewables by granting them cost recovery, which all other forms of electricity generation enjoy. This year, the Legislature is slated to consider a ''renewable portfolio standard'' that would drive a significant increase in emissions-free energy production. All of these steps are essential to making Florida a leader in the clean-energy economy of the future.
On that, we couldn't agree more.
ARMANDO J. OLIVERA, president and CEO, FPL, Juno Beach
DEBBIE HARRISON, director, South Florida Program for the World Wildlife Fund, Key Largo
© 2009 Miami Herald Media Company. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.miamiherald.com
5 comments:
It is not only the Turkey Point opposition; opponents of the West County Energy Center (Palm Beach), for example, deserves a hand here. The WEC will be a huge water waster (immediately upstream of the Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge and Water Conservation Areas, with no outcry from the Everglades Coalition!
All advocates of decentralized ("distributed") generation and true renewable energy should be protesting FPL and state policies that would allow nuclear to be considered "renewable".
I thought the effort was to move emphasis from the "renewable" notion to a "clean" paradigm, placing the renewables effort as part of the greater climate change issue. The fact that FPL and other utilities were comfortable with the statutory shortcut of fictionalizing nuclear as renewable energy speaks as much for their arrogance and ham-handedness as for their practicality.
FP&L certainly should be commended for thier efforts, however meager, to utilize
Florida's vast solar energy resource, but there is some serious greenwashing going
on here. Since utilities are billing ratepayers up front for the cost of new energy
infrastructre in Florida now, they should be getting the most for their money and they
simply are not.
51% of the electricity consumed in Florida is used in the residential sector. If
we break down the average electric bill we find that consumers use 20% of thier
electricity to heat water. That means that about 10% of the electricity
consumed in Florida is for the production of residential domestic hot water!
Even without economies of scale, solar thermal technolgy can deliver the energy we
need for this 10% of our energy use for a fraction of the cost of photovoltaics.
For the $688 million dollars FP&L is charging consumers "up front" to
bring on approximately 110 megawatts of centralized power production,
Floridian's could be getting the equivalent of over 825 megawatts of energy
for their money with decentralized solar thermal technolgy, ie:Solar Water Heating.
And by spending our money on decentralized energy infrastructure, consumers get a
direct benefit, lower electric bills. So when we put our cash into decentralized
solar thermal technology, we not only get more energy for our money but we get our
money back because our electric bill actually goes down. When we spend it on centralized
photovolataic technology, we just spend more to be green and put all the extra money in the
utilities pocket.
So while FP&L's public relations are having a field day of good
publicity waving the green flag at their token 110 megaWatt of solar fields,
(that Florida consumers are actually paying for), Progress Energy is reaching in our
pockets to the tune of $24 billion dollars to slip 2.2 gigaWatts of nuclear capacity
on line in Levy County, again using our money. Instead of sharing the gold mine of
solar energy in Florida with consumers, utilities are taking the gold and giving ratepayers
the shaft!
It's time we stop trying to solve our energy problems with expensive, high tech
solution from the "top down" and start making real progress using proven low tech
solutions from the "bottom up". It's a much better approach for consumers and
far more cost effective.
It's your money being spend by utilities! Demand they spend wisely!
Veteran conservation advocate Eric Draper assumed the position of Executive Director of Audubon of Florida on an acting basis. He follows David Anderson in the role, who last week concluded more than five years of distinguished service. Henry Tepper, Audubon’s Vice President of Eastern State Programs, made the announcement saying, “Eric is one of Audubon’s most talented conservation leaders. He has an impressive record of accomplishment and the skills to lead Audubon’s largest state program.” John Hankinson, Chairman of Audubon’s Florida Board added, “We are grateful to David Anderson for his service and wish him well. We are also pleased that Eric is stepping up to this important role.”
Draper, 56, joined the staff of the National Audubon Society in 1995 as Senior Vice President for Policy. He refocused on Florida in 1999 as state Policy Director. In 2008, he was awarded National Audubon Society’s highest honor, the Charles H. Callison Award of professional distinction. This year, he was named one of the top 40 “influencers” in Florida politics by Campaigns & Elections’ Politics magazine. Upon assuming his duties, Draper said, “I am honored to be given the opportunity to lead an organization whose conservation mission is critical to Florida’s future.”
Over the past 14 years Draper helped orchestrate organizational growth for Audubon of Florida, which now employs more than 50 people with an annual budget of more than $5 million. Florida Audubon’s 100-year history as the Voice of Conservation is now backed by four science research centers, a suite of sanctuaries, 44 local chapters, and the state’s most effective conservation advocacy operation. Draper and Audubon have played key roles in promoting Everglades restoration and Florida Forever while defending state water policies and advancing clean energy legislative proposals. Earlier this year Draper launched a campaign to run for Florida Commissioner of Agriculture but dropped that effort to focus on leading opposition to offshore oil drilling.
ERIC DRAPER: One word: ICK!
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