nuclear-news

Florida lawsuit challenges upfront payments for nuclear power reactors

Energy advocates: State nuclear cost recovery bill is unconstitutional, Miami Herald, 24 Jan 12,  The state law that has allowed Florida Power & Light and ProgressEnergy to charge customers $1 billion so far for speculative nuclear power plants is unconstitutional, a group of energy advocates claims in a lawsuit before the state’s highest court.

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is asking the Florida Supreme Court to throw out the 2006 law and reverse a decision by state regulators who have allowed the companies to charge customers for upgrading existing nuclear power plants and for the pre-construction
costs of building new nuclear power plants that may never be built.

“State-sanctioned monopolies are using this nuclear-tax scam as an
entitlement to extract money from consumers,” said Stephen A. Smith,
executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. “This a
really bad deal for the consumers of Florida.”

The alliance filed an appeal with the court in December, asking it to
reject an order by the Public Service Commission in October that
allowed FPL to collect $196 million from customers for nuclear
projects in 2012. The order allowed Progress to collect $86 million
for this year.
Smith argues that the law is unconstitutional because it gives
“unbridled discretion” to the Public Service Commission, the state
agency that regulates utilities, to “make up law as they go”by
modifying and changing the rules intended by legislators.

Since the law was passed, he said, the prospects for building nuclear
power plants in Florida have changed dramatically. The projected cost
of construction has tripled, the need has declined, and the questions
about safety have grown, he said.
Meanwhile, the PSC has continued to allow the companies to charge
customers for prospective nuclear projects and, in FPL’s case, use
$172 million of the fees authorized for 2012 to pay for improvements
to its existing Turkey Point plant in Miami-Dade County and its St.
Lucie plant on Hutchinson Island….
the company has not committed to building the new plant…..
Smith argues that “the Legislature created a sloppy law that is
unconstitutional” and believes the PSC should be requiring the utility
companies to prove the need for the power plants, given the changing
economy, before it authorizes fees to customers.

“The determination of need of five years ago has been predicated on
what can now be considered erroneous data,”said Cindy Lerner, mayor of
the Village of Pinecrest, which is about 15 miles from FPL’s Turkey
Point.

Lerner said there is growing community opposition to the proposed
nuclear projects. In addition to Pinecrest, the Miami-Dade League of
Cities and its 34 municipalities have passed resolutions urging the
PSC to deny the requests for additional funding for nuclear reactors
and want the Legislature to repeal the law.

The issue is a political hot potato for legislative leaders, however.
Since 2007, they have refused to give hearings to bills that would
repeal the nuclear-cost provisions.
Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, said a settlement agreement
reached on Friday between Progress Energy and state regulators was
proof that the company had pulled back from its commitment to build a
new nuclear power plant in Levy County. The company agreed to reduce
how much it will charge customers for the proposed plant, refund $288
million related to a controversial nuclear-plant repair in Crystal
River and increase base electric rates by $150 million a year.

“That tells you right there that the nuclear power plant in Levy will
never be built,” Fasano said. “They should be honest with the
ratepayers and with the Public Service Commission and refund the
ratepayers their money.”

Smith disagreed with the settlement, he said, because it encourages
Progress to bring the Crystal River plant back online and will run the
risk of “throwing good money after bad.”
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2012/01/energy-advocates-state-nuclear-cost-recovery-bill-is-unconstitutional.html#storylink=cpy

January 25, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, USA