In the massive discussion that's starting to shape the future of electric power in the state for decades to come, an executive of Florida Power & Light insists that the best way to reduce greenhouse gases is to define nuclear as a renewable energy source.
UTILITIES
Several days before Florida Power & Light releases its own estimates, Progress Energy Florida announced Friday its customers could face a stunning 31 percent increase in their electric bills next year.
FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT
Two months after state regulators issued a scathing report saying a green energy program sponsored by Florida Power & Light wasted most of its money on administrative and marketing expenses, the company that carried out the program issued its own report Thursday saying it had accomplished what it was asked to do.
Two months after state regulators issued a scathing report saying a green energy program sponsored by Florida Power & Light wasted most of its money on administrative and marketing expenses, the company that carried out the program issued its own report Thursday saying it had accomplished what it was asked to do.
TOURISM
Tourism leaders found themselves fending off sea turtles in Fort Lauderdale Thursday morning. Broward's tourism board voted unanimously against using hotel taxes to protect turtles nesting on the coast -- a program now paid for out of the county's general fund.
ENERGY
In a major step to determine Florida's energy supply over the next 42 years, the staff of the Public Service Commission is recommending an extremely slow buildup in the use of renewable energy.
A crucial argument about the best way to combat global warming comes down to two alternatives that may seem deceptively simple: Force utilities to make a certain percentage of electricity from renewable resources, such as solar and wind.
GLOBAL WARMING
With little fanfare, hundreds of millions of dollars are flowing annually into Latin America, cleaning up city garbage dumps and country animal manure, financing hydroelectric dams and doing away with coal-burning power plants -- thanks to a foreign-aid program that goes by the name of Kyoto.
State regulators Tuesday approved Florida Power & Light's request to build two new nuclear reactors and opened the door for the utility to start charging customers for the multibillion-dollar investment as early as next year -- even though the reactors won't be finished for a decade.
In a simmering feud among major players in the power industry, eight utility executives, including Lew Hay of FPL Group, have politely but firmly told their own national trade association to fix exaggerations in a study intended to warn Congress about the cost of fighting global warming.
