FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 18, 2015
Public
Service Commission Rejects Ratepayers, Sides with Utilities
Commission
Approves FPL Petition to Expand Fracking at Expense of Customers
Tallahassee
- Today the Florida Public Service Commission unanimously approved Florida
Power & Light’s request to further invest in risky natural gas exploration
and development activities with no oversight by regulators for at least the
next three to five years. This decision will guarantee a return of profit for FPL
shareholders, while charging its customers up to an additional $500 million
annually - above and beyond the $191 million a year already approved by the PSC
in a previous natural gas development decision.
The
decision by the PSC is unprecedented. According to PSC staff, no other
state gives a utility carte blanche to
move forward with such untested and unregulated investments of ratepayer money.
FPL stands to make an immediate return on investment for its shareholders while
customers could wait decades for any benefit from such an investment, if at
all. FPL can now shift greater risks of investing in energy projects to
customers, thereby further eliminating shareholder risks and maximizing
shareholder profits.
Tom
Larson, Conservation Chair for Sierra Club Florida and a specialist on energy
& climate issues, said: “We are extremely disappointed with the
Commission’s decision today. The approval of FPL’s expansion into unregulated
natural gas projects is not only environmentally risky, but financially risky
for ratepayers as well. Further, the PSC
is deepening the dependence of Florida on natural gas for its electric system,
while exacerbating the growing impact of our use of fossil fuels on climate
change.”
This
decision comes on the heels of a previous decision approved by the PSC in
December to allow FPL to invest $191 million in a risky gas exploration and
fracking project in Oklahoma. The project, which began producing natural gas in
March, has yet to provide proof of savings for customers. What’s worse, with a
volatile natural gas market, ratepayers could wind up footing a costly bill.
This
further opens the door to other risky fracking projects to be presented to the
Commission by utilities in Florida. Duke Energy has stated it would consider
bringing similar fracking proposals to the Commission for approval based on the
Commission’s vote. While Florida moves forward with more investment in
out-of-state fracking, other states are investing more and more for their
future in renewable energy such as solar and wind, which protects ratepayers
and the environment.
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