JUNO BEACH, Fla. – Florida Power & Light Company plans to meet anticipated customer growth and the increasing electricity needs of its customers with a strategy that focuses on fuel diversity, advanced technology, energy conservation and renewable energy sources to improve system reliability and help stabilize future power prices. As part of this strategy, FPL also plans to increase its power generating resources by approximately 28 percent by 2016.
“We are taking a balanced and sensible approach to meet the future needs of our customers,” said Armando Olivera, president of FPL. “This includes the addition of advanced clean coal technology to improve fuel diversity and system reliability in an environmentally responsible manner to meet our customers’ electricity needs.
“We also are committed to increasing customer participation in energy efficiency programs, finding ways to increase the use of renewable sources of energy, and taking steps that will create the option for new nuclear generation.”
The company’s ten-year resource plan, annually updated and submitted this week to the Florida Public Service Commission, anticipates adding approximately 6,700 megawatts of new generation resources to its current system capacity of 24,360 megawatts. In their recent reviews of Florida’s growing electricity needs, both the Florida Public Service Commission and the Florida legislature have strongly encouraged utilities to further diversify their fuel sources, including more coal and nuclear.
FPL currently provides electricity to 4.4 million homes and businesses in Florida. To produce the electricity, the company uses a mix of 50 percent natural gas, 21 percent nuclear, 15 percent purchased power, 9 percent oil and 5 percent coal. The new power resources planned for FPL’s system would serve an additional 1.4 million homes and businesses.
FPL’s diverse generation expansion plan
2007 -- FPL is completing construction this summer of 1,150 megawatts of new, highly-efficient, combined-cycle natural gas-fired generation at its Turkey Point plant site in south Miami-Dade County. That’s enough generation to serve approximately 230,000 homes and businesses.
2009-2012 – FPL has just begun constructing 2,400 megawatts of new generation at its West County plant site in western Palm Beach County to begin serving customers in 2009.That’s enough generation to serve approximately 466,000 homes and businesses. Also, short term purchases also will be utilized in this timeframe.
2013-2014 – To improve fuel diversity and system reliability, FPL is seeking approval to add 1,960 megawatts of advanced clean coal technology in Glades County capable of serving approximately 396,000 homes and businesses. FPL expects the facility to be the cleanest coal plant in the country and would begin serving customers’ needs by 2013 and 2014.
2015 -2016 – To round out the end of the 10-year planning horizon, FPL tentatively plans to add an additional 1,200 megawatts of highly-efficient, combined-cycle natural gas-fired generation; however, this option could be replaced by more economical alternatives as appropriate.
2018 and beyond – FPL also is taking steps to create the option for new nuclear power generation in Florida.
Creating the option for new nuclear power
FPL has notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of its intent to submit a license application as an initial step in creating the option to build a new nuclear power plant in Florida. Filing an application does not obligate the company to build a new nuclear unit but is a necessary step in the process of evaluating the feasibility of this technology option.
Also, as an important early step in the process of evaluating new nuclear generation, FPL has been evaluating more than a dozen potential sites. The company has identified Turkey Point, an 11,000-acre existing power plant site in south Miami-Dade County, as one potential site for a new nuclear power generating unit. A decision to build is not expected for several years. The time needed to evaluate and select a specific nuclear reactor technology, obtain state and federal licenses and approvals, and then construct a nuclear power unit is estimated to take approximately 12 years or more.
Advanced clean coal technology: Producing reliable power, protecting the environment
FPL is seeking approval for an advanced clean coal technology power plant about five miles northwest of Moore Haven in Glades County, Florida. FPL filed a site certification application with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in December 2006 and a request for a “need determination” in February 2007 with the Florida Public Service Commission.
The FPL Glades Power Park represents FPL’s best strategy to reliably meet customers’ growing energy needs while enhancing fuel diversity and helping to keep electricity prices stable. As the recent hurricanes Katrina and Rita proved, natural gas supplies are subject to interruption. In the aftermath of Katrina, for example, due to the shutdown of natural gas production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, FPL was limited in the available amount of natural gas to run its power plants.
The use of advanced clean coal technology also will result in higher efficiency and substantially fewer emissions than traditional coal plants. In addition, state-of-the-art pollution control technologies will further reduce emissions and protect air quality.
Overall, coal provides an opportunity to take advantage of an abundant U.S. fuel source that is not as vulnerable as other fuels to disruptions in supply and has historic price stability, which is important to keep electricity costs down. In addition, as environmental technologies advance and become commercially available, FPL’s selected design can be readily modified to accommodate future carbon capture, carbon conversion and new combustion equipment, affording even greater environmental advancement possibilities.
Conservation and renewable energy sources
The company remains committed to helping its customers become more energy efficient and reduce their use of electricity. According to the Department of Energy, FPL’s energy conservation program is ranked first among all electric utilities in the nation. Over the past twenty-five years, FPL customers have avoided the need for approximately 11 medium-sized power plants by participating in FPL conservation and energy management programs. Through the introduction of additional or enhanced energy conservation programs, the company expects to avoid four more plants through 2016.
Energy conservation alone, however, will not be enough to meet Florida’s future energy needs. In addition to meeting the needs of 4.4 million customers whose energy consumption has increased by 30 percent over the past 20 years, FPL must also plan for the electricity needs of approximately 90,000 new customers every year.
In an effort to maintain and add new renewable energy resources, FPL is pursuing several initiatives. Current renewable energy efforts include using biomass and municipal waste to produce electricity. The company also is developing several pilot projects using solar photovoltaic technology and exploring technologies for potentially producing electricity from ocean currents. Additionally, FPL is pursuing a wind demonstration project on either the east or the west coast of Florida. FPL’s sister company, FPL Energy, is a world leader in producing electricity from wind and solar sources.
A clean energy company
FPL and its parent company, FPL Group, operate one of the cleanest electricity generating fleets in the nation with among the lowest rates of power plant air emissions.
FPL’s carbon dioxide emission rates, for example, have been reduced significantly, primarily due to the addition of new, more efficient generating units. FPL Group was one of the first to join the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Leaders program and is committed to achieving an 18 percent reduction in emission rates of greenhouse gases by 2008 compared to a 2001 baseline. FPL remains on track to achieve that target and continue its downward trend of CO2 and other emission rates even after adding new advanced clean coal technology.
In January, FPL Group announced its alliance with the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a collaboration of U.S.-based businesses and leading environmental organizations advocating swift action on global climate change. USCAP urges strong national legislation to achieve significant mandatory reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.
Florida Power & Light Company is the principal subsidiary of FPL Group, Inc. (NYSE: FPL), nationally known as a high quality, efficient and customer-driven organization focused on energy-related products and services. With annual revenues of nearly $16 billion and a growing presence in 26 states, FPL Group is widely recognized as one of the country's premier power companies. Florida Power & Light Company serves 4.4 million customer accounts in Florida. FPL Energy, LLC, FPL Group's competitive energy subsidiary, is a leader in producing electricity from clean and renewable fuels. Additional information is available on the Internet at www.FPL.com, www.FPLGroup.com and www.FPLEnergy.com.