Res No 147-11-13461RESOLUTION NO. 147-11-13461
A Resolution by the City of South Miami urging the
Florida Public Services Commission to deny approval of
any further Early Cost Recovery and urging the Florida
Legislature to repeal the Early Cost Recovery statute
relating to electric utility charges for the siting, design,
licensing, and construction of nuclear power plants.
WHEREAS, F.S. 366.93, known as Early Cost Recovery, was adopted by the
Florida Legislature in 2006 and provides that utilities may charge customers in advance of
operation for the costs of planning, lobbying for, and constructing nuclear power plants; and
WHEREAS, the Early Cost Recovery statute provides that the utility may impose
and collect the charge but never actually complete the project, thus charging the rate payer
for improvements and infrastructure they will never actually provide to customers; and
WHEREAS, FPL has currently charged, collected from its customers and spent
$268 million in Early Cost Recovery funds and is seeking approval from the Public Service
Commission for an additional $186 million in 2012 new nuclear - related projects including
the construction of two additional nuclear reactors at Turkey Point in South Miami -Dade,
but which have never received approval for a license by the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission; and
WHEREAS, Progress Energy submitted an Early Cost Recovery schedule that
reaches $60 /month/1000 KW, and the additional funds requested by FPL may represent a
similarly dramatic increase in the customer's monthly bill at a time when consumers are
struggling to pay current bills; and
WHEREAS, generation and transmission infrastructure paid for by rate payers
under Early Cost Recovery becomes the property of the utility's corporate share- holders
who invested nothing in that infrastructure but who will receive 10% annual interest on the
value of that infrastructure from the rate payers who paid for it in the first place; and
WHEREAS, executives of FPL have stated that nuclear reactors are too expensive
to build, yet FPL continues to collect money from the rate - payers under Early Cost
Recovery to finance ancillary infrastructure, such as transmission lines, listed under their
nuclear Combined Operating License Application; and
WHEREAS, publicly traded utilities receiving money from rate payers under Early
Cost Recovery are not obliged to pay back those funds if their nuclear generation projects
are not completed; and
WHEREAS, Early Cost Recovery money is used by the utilities to promote and
litigate for the same nuclear and transmission line projects the rate payers may oppose; and
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WHEREAS, improvements in domestic energy efficiency are the best energy
investments available, are safe, carbon -free, and can provide more jobs to Floridians than
any other energy investment, but Early Cost Recovery monies are not permissible for such
investments; and
WHEREAS, nuclear reactors financed through Early Cost Recovery have become
the most expensive way to produce electricity; and
WHEREAS, the nuclear reactor designs currently being financed through Early
Cost Recovery have never been deployed and may pose unforeseen risks to citizens of the
Southeastern United States.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY
COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA, THAT:
Section 1. The City Commission hereby urges the Florida Public Service
Commission to deny FPL approval of any further Early Cost Recovery funding.
Section 2. The City Commission hereby urges the Florida Legislature to repeal
F.S. 366.93 relating to Early Cost Recovery.
Section 3. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon adoption.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 6th day of September 2011.
ATTEST: APPROVED:
(`TTV Of VDV
COMMISSION VOTE:
4 -1
Mayor Stoddard:
Yea
Vice Mayor Newman:
Yea
Commissioner Beasley:
Yea
Commissioner Palmer:
Nay
Commissioner Harris:
Yea