Power Play

Power Play

Companies and environmental groups are pushing for more renewable energy in Florida, which would increase competition among energy providers.

There is a major debate going on in Florida regarding the new energy standards that Gov. Charlie Crist would like to see instituted.

Among the consequences if they are implemented, a new wave of competition could come to the Florida utility market.

Recent rulemaking by the Florida Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities, did little to move the needle on them.

The governor appoints the commission members. But the commission answers to the Legislature, which wants a new policy on the standards by Feb. 9.

The rulemaking is known as the RPS - renewable energy portfolio - which is how the state uses renewable energy, such as biomass and solar, to meet mandated standards. A lot of the energy Florida uses comes from non-renewable sources, such as coal, fuel oil and natural gas.

There is a group called REAL (the Renewable Energy Alliance) that has been formed among private companies and moderate environmental groups that hopes to beef up the governor's standards and therefore meet them sooner.

Essentially, the group believes it can increase competition, which will moderate the cost of renewable energy and create jobs to stimulate the economy and improve the environment.

Investor-owned utilities, such as Florida Progress, Florida Power & Light and TECO Energy, want to build renewable facilities and control the market. So far, the PSC rulemaking has supported them.

Covanta Energy, which has been active in building energy-from-waste plants, has been pushing for the state to meet the governor's standards more quickly.

Covanta believes energy from waste can contribute to Florida 's Renewable Energy Portfolio and that the PSC's proposed rules not only do not support renewable energy generation, they impede it dramatically.

Simply put, Covanta takes household trash and uses it as fuel to generate energy in the form of steam and electricity. It operates 35 of these facilities throughout the country and has four of its 11 Florida facilities in the Tampa Bay area.

Florida has the most energy-from-waste facilities of any state and processes about 15% of the solid waste statewide. The Environmental Protection Commission considers energy from waste to be one of the cleanest forms of electrical generation, cleaner than coal or fuel oil.

Right now in Florida, the electricity generated from the EFW facilities – all 11 of them – is about 517 megawatts vs. about 55,000 megawatts of capacity. Energy from waste accounts for about 50% of renewable energy on the state's electrical grid.

The governor wants 20% of the state's energy base to be in renewable by 2020. Commissioners at the PSC suggested 2041.

"They (the commissioners) didn't do anything to allow for good competition," says Joe Treshler, vice president of business development and community affairs for Covanta Energy. "It is still in the hands of investor-owned utilities. We're not seeing any change."

To Treshler, Covanta and other companies are seeking a level playing field to compete on, which means getting paid a fair value for electricity and holding the current utilities more responsible for meeting the standards.

He believes a rule change would actually help the utilities by spreading the risk for reliable energy production to other companies.

"I think the commissioners recognize the need to make it happen," Treshler says. "I can't say that for the staff. Some maybe have been there too long."

- Dave Szymanski