Florida PSC votes to allow Florida Power & Light Company to recover costs of Turkey Point cleanup
The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) voted on Tuesday to allow Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) to recover costs associated with cleanup related to leaking cooling canals at its Turkey Point nuclear plant in Homestead, Florida.
The PSC found that FPL acted prudently in fulfilling environmental regulatory agencies’ requirements for the historic operation its Turkey Point Cooling Canal Monitoring Plan. The commission also said that none of the three government agencies with oversight over the plant found that FPL withheld information or submitted false data.
FPL asked to recover the plan’s costs through the PSC’s Environmental Cost Recovery Clause (ECRC). The PSC voted to allow the company to recover $132.6 million in relation to the cleanup. The recovery cost allowance per monthly bill is $1.59 per 1,000-kilowatt usage for a typical residential customer, the PSC said.
The PSC, however, did not allow recovery of FPL’s $1.5 million escrow payment required by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, as the utility did not meet its burden of proof that it would use the funds to benefit FPL ratepayers. FPL’s 2017 and 2018 monitoring project costs and escrow payment removal are subject to true-up in future ECRC proceedings.
The PSC’s evidentiary, held in late October, included parties from FPL, the Office of Public Counsel, the Florida Industrial Power Users Group and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
The PSC also approved on Tuesday FPL’s request to recover solar project costs through an increase in base rates under the terms of its 2016 settlement. The PSC determined that FPL’s 2017 and 2018 solar projects are cost-effective and are projected to save customers approximately $96 million.
FPL is proposing the construction of eight solar facilities in Manatee, Charlotte, and DeSoto Counties. FPL expects that the 2017 projects will be in service by Dec. 31 and projects that the 2018 projects will be completed by March 1, 2018.
