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Regulators Deny Gulf Power Rate Hike For Potential North Escambia Plant
July 17, 2012
Refusing to backtrack from a decision earlier this year, state regulators on Tuesday rejected a proposal by Gulf Power Company to pass along costs to customers for a potential nuclear power plant site in North Escambia.
Gulf Power wanted the Florida Public Service Commission to approve a relatively small increase in base rates to help cover costs related to the 4,000-acre site. Commissioners turned down the idea in February as part of a broader rate case, but Gulf Power made a somewhat unusual request to reconsider the decision.
In again rejecting the proposal, commissioners sided with the state’s Office of Public Counsel, which represents consumers, and two business groups that often tangle with utilities about electricity costs. Opponents pointed, in part, to another Gulf Power property in Caryville that has long been in the rate base but has not been developed for a power plant.
“It would be bad public policy (to approve Gulf Power’s request), and it would go against the record evidence we have before us,” Commissioner Julie Brown said at one point during Tuesday’s discussion.
But Gulf Power attorney Jeffrey Stone said it is important to allow utilities to recover money from customers to help cover costs of future power-plant sites. Otherwise, Stone said, utilities will put off land purchases, ultimately costing customers more money.
“That is a delay that will disadvantage ratepayers in the long term,” Stone said.
The PSC in February approved an overall $64.1 million increase in base rates for Gulf Power customers, but the utility wanted an additional $2.06 million increase to cover costs related to holding the property for future use as a potential nuclear site. The utility said the additional amount would have translated into 20 cents a month for a residential customer who uses 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity.
But Robert Scheffel Wright, an attorney for the Florida Retail Federation, one of the business groups in the case, said opponents think Gulf Power prematurely bought the land. He and others said the utility failed to show earlier this year that it was entitled to collecting the additional money.
“This is just an attempt to reweigh the evidence,” said Vicki Gordon Kaufman, an attorney for the Florida Industrial Power Users Group, the other business organization that opposed the proposal.
Commissioners raised repeated questions about Gulf Power’s unused site at Caryville, which likely would not house a nuclear facility but could hold another type of power plant. As an example, Commissioner Art Graham has expressed support for the idea of buying land far ahead of the time Gulf Power might build a nuclear plant, but he also questioned utility customers paying for both the North Escambia and Caryville sites.
PSC members and staff said Gulf Power could request another, more-limited proceeding to address the issue of having both sites. Stone said the utility would have to evaluate whether it wanted to make such a request.
By The News Service of Florida
Comments
11 Responses to “Regulators Deny Gulf Power Rate Hike For Potential North Escambia Plant”
20 cents a month is nothing. They could have just asked for a regular rate hike & got that. Its coming like it or not. They are just putting it out there to get us used to the disscussion about it. Once we all are used to hearing it, No big deal. No protesting it. We dont get in an uproar on approved rate hikes do we. They could have always been for future construction . Or whatever they want. They are the Monopoly. Someone else know another power company we can use?
Thank you regulators. I am sure we need our money more than GulfPower does.
It is great to know that there are still institutions such as the PSC that cannot be bought and influenced by big money.
Gulf Power does not NEED more money. They can dip into the tens of millions of dollars they made in profit last year. Financial statements are public record.
Anonymous read all of the stories…they have not even gone through the plan/study phase for the power plant. It takes decades to get the government permits if ever. They have not taken the first step in getting this plant. Why have us pay for a pig in a poke? Let us see what it is we are buying and then we can talk.
Thank you PSC for holding strong!
How about a wind/solar plant for the area? I think a lot of people and maybe the government would be in favor of that, and it would bring jobs to the area. GE manufactures wind turbines in Pensacola. Let’s do “made in America, Gulf Power!
A vocal minority doesn’t mean the majority rejects a power plant for our area. High 5 figure or better jobs would be a great opportunity for folks.
I’ll be glad to kiss them goodbye.Don’t want nothing nuclear around here anyway. And I’m not alone.
First quarter 2012 revenues were $3.60 billion, per their 2012 first quarter report, and they need a rate increase?????????? for something the residents of the area do not want. The PSC did something right for a change.
20c/mnth? Doesnt seem like that big of an increase if it means the creation of new job opportunities. What happens if Gulf Power abandons the plan or moves it somewhere else?
Kiss those jobs good bye.