Crist Builds Record Against Coal

TALLAHASSEE - 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 coal-fired plants.

A group that was planning to build a coal plant in Taylor County, southeast of Tallahassee, said Tuesday that 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 a coal power plant that Florida Power & Light, the state's largest electric company, 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. The governor spoke at a news conference in which he was promoting his upcoming trip to Miami to meet with national leaders on 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.'

Still, Crist signed legislation this year that encourages construction of coal gasification power plants, a type Tampa Electric Co. has said it wants to build in Polk County. TECO has said it wants to open the plant by 2013, but the Tampa-based utility has not made any filings with the state seeking permission to build it.

Coal gasification plants produce significantly fewer emissions than conventional coal-fired facilities but cost up to 20 percent more to build. The plants convert coal into cleaner-burning gas, which is used to generate electricity. But the biggest benefit of the plants is that they can easily be equipped to capture and store carbon dioxide.

Even without technologies that allow coal gasification, 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 says 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 thought 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 from 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.'

Tallahassee, Jacksonville's JEA municipal utility, the Florida Municipal Power Agency and the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which includes Walt Disney World, are the directors of the group that was planning to build the plant, near 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.

Crist adviser Chris Kise 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 FP&L 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.