Press Mention The Florida Current February 23, 2014
SACE Quoted
Group calls on Legislature to review nuclear cost recovery law amid focus on FPL's St. Lucie plant
In this mention
The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is calling on the Florida Legislature to review the state's 2006 nuclear cost recovery law in light of concerns about Florida Power & Light's St. Lucie nuclear plant. SACE Executive Director Stephen Smith argues that FPL has misled the public about the advantages of a plant upgrade and that the law has caused financial hardship to ratepayers. The article discusses pending legislation that would either repeal or modify the nuclear cost recovery law.
We believe that the state legislature and Florida should hold hearings and investigate this controversial law that's already caused much hardship and financial damage to ratepayers in the Duke service territory and now to understand the implications to Florida Power and Light Consumers in the long run
Stephen A. Smith
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Full transcript
Group calls on Legislature to review nuclear cost recovery law amid focus on FPL's St. Lucie plant
Bruce Ritchie, 02/24/2014 - 04:00 PM
The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is calling on the Legislature to review again its
nuclear cost recovery law in light of a Tampa Bay Times report that Florida Power & Light
Co.'s St. Lucie nuclear plant is in trouble.
FPL and Duke Energy Florida have charged customers more than $1.4 billion for nuclear
projects under a 2006 law that allows utilities to charge customers for nuclear power projects
regardless of whether they are ever built.
The Legislature in 2013 revised the law after Duke announced it would close its Crystal River
nuclear plant following botched repairs during a plant upgrade. The revised law denies cost
recovery for projects after 20 years.
The Tampa Bay Times reported that nuclear reactor cooling tubes at the St. Lucie plant are
showing wear after an upgrade that allowed the utility to boost power output at the plant. A
Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman said Monday there is no steam generator or
tube integrity safety concerns at the plant.
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy Executive Director Stephen Smith said during a conference
call on Monday that FPL has misled the public and decision makers about the advantages of the
upgrade in defense of the 2006 law.
"We believe that the state legislature and Florida should hold hearings and investigate this
controversial law that's already caused much hardship and financial damage to ratepayers in the
Duke service territory and now to understand the implications to Florida Power and Light
Consumers in the long run," Smith said. His group's legal challenge to the 2006 law was rejected
last year by the Florida Supreme Court.
FPL has said the St. Lucie plant upgrade saved customers $7.5 million per month in 2013 and will
save billions of dollars compared to the cost of fossil fuels over the operational lifetime of the
plant.
During the 2013 session, SB 1472 by Sen. John Legg, R-Lutz, originally would have repealed
the nuclear cost recovery law in 2016. But the law changes were scaled back in the face of
opposition from FPL and other utilities.
This year, HB 4001 by Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda, D-Tallahassee, would repeal the
nuclear cost recovery law altogether. HB 693 by Rep. Dwight Dudley, R-St. Petersburg, is a
joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment providing that utilities cannot recover
costs for building a plant until a plant is in commercial operation.
FPL spokesman Michael Waldron said Monday that customers saved $300 million in financing
costs they otherwise would have had to pay without the 2006 law.
"Between the benefits of offsetting the costs of fossil fuel over the lifetime of the plant and the
increased efficiency of the plant, we continue to believe nuclear cost recovery is a good policy for
Florida and it's working," Waldron said. He is FPL's senior director of nuclear communications.