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Nuclear Plant Plan Filed With NRC

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By RUSSELL RAY

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 2, 2008

TAMPA - Two weeks after winning state approval to build two nuclear reactors north of Crystal River in Levy County, Progress Energy Florida took its proposal to federal regulators on Friday and asked for their OK.

Progress Energy, Central Florida's largest power provider, joins a growing number of utilities to ask for approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to operate a new nuclear facility, placing it at the center of a "nuclear renaissance" in the United States.

The commission's review is expected to take three to four years, the utility said. The two reactors would generate up to 2,200 megawatts of electricity, enough power for nearly 1.4 million Florida homes.

So far, the commission has received applications to build 17 nuclear reactors in nine states. Applications for 14 more reactors are expected by year's end, the commission said.

Concern about global warming, America's growing appetite for electricity and efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions have spawned plans to build more than 30 nuclear reactors in the United States. The proposals show how much public attitudes have changed about nuclear power since 1979, when America's opposition to nuclear energy hardened amid the partial meltdown at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island.

Although Progress Energy expects "flat" customer growth this year, it still predicts a 25 percent increase in demand in its 35-county service area in the next decade.

Jeff Lyash, president and CEO of Progress Energy Florida, said the added nuclear power is needed to meet that demand and to comply with regulators' plans to limit emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas scientists have linked to global warming.

"Our energy needs are increasing," Lyash said. "The addition of an advanced, state-of-the-art nuclear facility in Levy County will add to our already diverse generation portfolio and enable us to address the challenge of climate change with safe, carbon-free power."

The $17 billion nuclear facility is expected to begin generating power in 2016.

The project won unanimous approval from the Florida Public Service Commission in July. But the plan requires approval from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which is expected to issue a decision next year.

Under new state law, Progress Energy could begin collecting the project's cost from customers as early as January.

By then, Progress Energy customers could be paying an extra $7.50 a month for costs the utility has incurred thus far and estimated costs through the end of this year. That estimate, however, may change when the state Public Service Commission considers the utility's cost recovery plan in September.

State law allows utilities with plans to build a nuclear plant to recover its costs from customers up front, instead of waiting until the plant is completed. Lawmakers approved the measure in 2006 to help energy companies absorb the high cost of constructing a nuclear plant.

Bill Newton, executive director of the Florida Consumer Action Network, said the law exposes customers to huge liabilities because it forces them to pay for expensive power plants that may never be built.

Progress Energy's two-reactor project may not be needed because the state's population has stopped growing and electric utilities, including Progress Energy, aren't adding as many customers, Newton said.

"They should have to build them the same way they build all of their other power plants," he said.

The cost of constructing a coal or natural gas plant is recovered from customers after the plant is built.

Also, Progress Energy has no incentive to keep costs down, Newton said.

"Since they get to use consumer money in advance, they get to bill for it right away," he said. "They could build gold-plated plants and collect a percentage from ratepayers."
Progress Energy should take the $17 billion it plans to invest in nuclear power and use it to build or purchase more renewable power, Newton said. Progress Energy said about 4 percent of its power is produced with renewable resources.

Reporter Russell Ray can be reached at (813) 259-7870 or rray@tampatrib.com.

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