“The entire vitality coverage dynamic in Florida has alienated the general public curiosity,” stated E. Leon Jacobs Jr., a former chairman of the Florida Public Service Fee who was elected president of the Southern Alliance for Clear Vitality, a nonprofit environmental group, in September 2020. “There completely have been points and challenges that ought to have been made in regard to that transmission line.”
The venture shall be funded partially by a $692 million enhance in prospects’ charges in 2022 — a part of $4.9 billion in cumulative price will increase over 4 years that the Public Service Fee authorised lengthy after Mr. Jacobs’s departure. Due to the road’s voltage, the venture’s design and suitability didn’t require extra detailed opinions by the fee and different state businesses.
Transmission data collected by the U.S. Division of Vitality highlights how uncommon 161-kilovolt strains are, notably over lengthy distances. Simply 3 % of all transmission strains within the nation are 161 kilovolts, they usually common 5 miles in size, stated Mr. McCullough, who reviewed the information.
The Public Service Fee, answerable for making certain that utility investments are prudent and keep away from financial waste, declined to remark in regards to the transmission line, its funding or Florida Energy & Mild’s practices, noting that the speed case could possibly be appealed.
The corporate stated it had met its authorized and regulatory necessities.
“To be blunt, such a criticism is misguided and demonstrates a elementary lack of knowledge of how the regulatory course of works,” stated David Reuter, a spokesman for NextEra Vitality, which owns the utility. “The unanimous F.P.S.C. determination on FPL’s price case is the end result of the customary, clear, practically yearlong public means of reviewing and setting new electrical base charges.”
Richard Gentry, who was named the state’s top consumer advocate early last year after lengthy working as a lobbyist for tobacco, alcohol, horse racing, manufacturing and different industries, stated his workplace had no authority to query a low-voltage transmission venture.
Mr. Gentry did, nevertheless, participate in negotiations relating to the speed case that included the transmission venture. The authorised price enhance features a return for the utility that’s among the many highest within the nation and valued at as a lot as $1 billion greater than the state’s two different investor-owned utilities (Duke Vitality and Tampa Electrical).
