Posted on 07/05/2007 7:13:01 AM PDT by BenLurkin
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- The future of coal as fuel for generating electricity in Florida is "not looking good," Gov. Charlie Crist said Tuesday after the second setback in a month for utilities seeking to build new coal-fired plants.
A group that was planning to build a new coal plant in Taylor County, just southeast of Tallahassee, said Tuesday it was suspending its efforts to get a permit in the face of "growing concerns about greenhouse gas emissions."
The decision, hailed by Crist as good for Florida, comes about a month after the state's Public Service Commission rejected another coal power plant that Florida Power & Light, the state's largest electric company, had wanted to build near the Everglades.
Crist said Florida is moving away from coal as a power source because burning it produces carbon dioxide emissions that are blamed for causing global warming. Crist spoke at a news conference in which he was promoting his meeting later this month in Miami with national leaders on dealing with global warming.
"We're obviously moving in a different direction and I think we need to continue to explore solar, wind, nuclear, other alternatives that are clean emission," Crist said. "Continuing to rely on foreign oil and coal, I don't think, is in the best interest of our state."
Electric and coal industry officials have tried to make the case in recent years that burning the fuel is a much cleaner enterprise than it was a few decades ago. It is much cheaper and its prices less volatile than natural gas, which allows utilities to sell electricity at lower rates. Building a coal plant is also cheaper than building nuclear plants.
Joe Lucas, director of the coal industry-backed group Americans for Balanced Energy Choices, agreed that Florida needs to look at alternative sources of energy.
"But it's disappointing to hear that the governor, and maybe some other state officials, don't see that ... technology has already made coal an increasingly clean resource, and technology will continue to make that happen," Lucas said.
The group also notes that coal is more affordable than many other types of fuel -- and officials need to understand that customers pay the cost of higher electric rates if more expensive fuels are used.
The partnership of local electric companies that was working on the proposed Taylor County plant said it was suspending its efforts while it "participates in a state dialogue about Florida's energy future."
Mike Lawson, the project manager for the proposed plant, said officials believed the technology would provide reliable and affordable power "in an environmentally responsible manner.
"However, growing concerns about climate change have raised questions that must be addressed thoughtfully," Lawson said in a statement released by the Taylor Energy Center group. "Rather than push forward, it's more important that we work with state leaders to craft an energy plan for Florida."
The city of Tallahassee, Jacksonville's JEA municipal utility, the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which includes Walt Disney World, and the Florida Municipal Power Agency, are the directors of the group that was planning to build the plant, near the town of Perry.
The project still faced hearings before state regulators and would need approval from Crist and the Cabinet.
Environmental groups hailed the group's decision to stop the project.
Chris Kise, an adviser to Crist, said the administration had conveyed concerns about the future of coal to plant officials, but declined to describe it as pressure.
"They've been very receptive to the governor's message about climate change," Kise said.
Last month, the Public Service Commission rejected an FPL proposal to build what would have been the nation's largest new coal-burning power plant in Glades County -- although commissioners ruled on economic grounds not direct concerns about climate change. The potential cost of regulations on carbon emissions, however, was a factor in the decision.
Power supply canceled on account of doomage.
No, just incompetence from not preparing for passport doomage related to the new Homeland Security regs on travelers to Canada and the Caribbean.
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