Florida Power and Light: what next? ... by gimleteye

Good for Governor Charlie Crist. The appointees on the Public Service Commission yesterday denied FPL the rate increase of 30 percent that would have, among other impacts, funded two new nuclear reactors at Turkey Point. With so much posturing and bluffing by the utility-- and such a huge profit flow to shareholders-- it is hard to know what of public pronouncements is true. CEO Lew Hay issued a statement including, ""This decision was about politics, not economics, and unfortunately it comes at a time when our state urgently needs jobs and investment. In addition, the decision will likely increase customer costs and diminish reliability over the long term because the commission failed to recognize the true cost of providing reliable service to customers. Historically, Florida has enjoyed a constructive regulatory environment, which has allowed us to invest billions of dollars to benefit FPL customers while having reasonable confidence that our investors would be allowed to earn fair returns."

It sounds like sour grapes that presages political battles to come; as though Florida can withstand any more erosion of regulations protecting the quality of life, public health and welfare of taxpayers. Will FPL "immediately suspend" planning activities related to the two new nuclear plants? I certainly hope so. Countless man hours and the operations of county agencies have been distorted by the shell game in a state siting certification process that was rolling with significant momentum toward a decision by the governor and cabinet. The absence of detail and honesty in key engineering pieces is breathtaking; most recently in comments by the South Florida Water Management District finding major areas of concern that the utility and its massive lobbying effort had failed to provide.

Is it dead? Will the utility, now that rate increases have been denied, join with public interest groups to restructure the regulatory and compensation regime in order to both preserve profits and sharply increase conservation? Governor Crist should certainly say so. It is too bad that CEO Hay did not take the opportunity to emphasize that the corporation is extraordinarily well placed for the future and will strike out in a new, positive directions that do not involve massive, risky energy ventures like new nuclear at Turkey Point. This is a moment of opportunity and change for the state's electric utilities: get back to work, figure out how to make money from conservation-- sharing the benefits with ratepayers-- and stop griping.