JUNO BEACH, Fla. --- Florida Power & Light Company strongly believes our valued customers and our state lawmakers deserve facts, not rhetoric, when it comes to our proposal for an advanced clean coal technology power plant. Contrary to what some environmental organizations suggest today, the FPL Glades Power Park will be environmentally-sensitive and will offer customers pocketbook and energy security for the future.
Our approach is a balanced one, built on our reputation for energy conservation, the search for reliable and affordable energy supplies, and our promise to build one of the cleanest coal plants in the country.
The FPL Glades Power Park will use less coal to produce more energy than the plants of yesterday, because our engineers will be using state of the art technology. In fact, the FPL Glades Power Park will be 23 percent more efficient than the average existing U.S. coal plant.
Pollution control is a top priority. FPL's proposed clean coal plant will result in mercury emissions 50 percent below strict new federal standards mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency. The mercury in Glades County attributable to the proposed advanced technology coal power plant would be considerably less than one/one-hundredth (1/100th) of the mercury attributable to other sources. In summary, it would be impossible to detect the addition of such a small amount of mercury to what is already there.
Our efforts to meet our customers' energy demands and environmental sensitivity don't stop there. That's why the Department of Energy has recognized FPL as the nation's leading utility when it comes to energy conservation. It’s important to note, FPL customers represent about three percent of the U.S. population, yet FPL has delivered 13 percent of the utility industry’s conservation efforts. FPL and its valued customers have embraced conservation so much that the effort has avoided the need for building 11 power plants over the past quarter-century. Also, FPL will use energy conservation programs to off-set about 26 percent of the expected growth in demand between 2006 and 2015.
Energy conservation and renewable energy supplies are simply not enough, though, for a state growing as rapidly as Florida. On average, FPL is adding 90,000 new customer accounts every year. Residential customers on average use 30 percent more electricity now than they did 20 years ago.
Clean coal helps meet that energy demand. Without it FPL would, in the near future, have to rely on natural gas for more than 70 percent of its energy production, a fuel source that has seen much volatility in recent years. In addition, natural gas supplies can be jeopardized whenever a hurricane roars through the Gulf of Mexico.
Finally, FPL Group, FPL’s parent company, is a founding member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, an alliance of major American businesses and leading environmental groups calling for swift federal action to reduce greenhouse gases. Indeed, if all utilities had FPL Group’s CO2 emissions rate profile, the U.S. would already meet the Kyoto Protocol’s targets for reducing greenhouse gases.
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.