tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73427958086865689362011-04-21T19:56:18.258-04:00Stop FPLStop FPL from what? Repeated hikes to electricity rates, record FPL Group profits at consumers' expense, continued nuclear expansion, ongoing Everglades encroachment, running high-voltage power lines through neighborhoods and business districts, hat-racking trees in your neighborhood, FPL lobbyist influence over elected officials ... if you're concerned about any of these things, then "Stop FPL" is for you!Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.comBlogger1261100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-38745658347205900662009-04-29T16:00:00.003-04:002009-04-29T16:05:57.871-04:00Coral Gables to study impact of proposed power linesA story in the Miami Herald says Coral Gables city leaders are following the lead of nearby communities in looking more closely at FPL's proposed route along US-1 of 230-KV high voltage electric transmission lines, hoping to assess the impact on residents and schoolchildren of the projected power lines.According to the article by staff writer Elaine de Valle, which appeared in the zoned NeighborsStop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-82326803678828666222009-04-28T16:32:00.004-04:002009-04-28T16:40:09.409-04:00FPL gets key Miami-Dade approval for Turkey Point rock-ming project, despite oppositionPersistent lobbying efforts at the Miami-Dade County over the years paid off for FPL yesterday, as the Miami-Dade County Planning Advisory Board in a 5-3 vote approved an FPL land-use change request that would allow rock-pit mining in the south of the county -- despite strong opposition from environmentalists, farmers, Biscayne National Park and the U.S. Air Force.The Miami Herald reported todayStop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-10431784638623936002009-04-27T11:48:00.003-04:002009-04-27T12:00:09.229-04:00Miami-Dade County to hear pros, cons of Turkey Point landfill plansFront page story this morning in the Miami Herald outlines what's at stake today in the hearing before Miami-Dade Planning Advisory Board for a permit to allow rock mining for landfill purposes related top construction of new Turkey Point nuclear reactors 6 & 7.According to the story, FPL canals criticized as health risk, by Herald staff writer Curtis Morgan:Environmental groups, backed by Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-64103404695856020102009-04-27T07:18:00.001-04:002009-04-27T11:46:39.677-04:00Turkey Point NRC hearing: residents, environmentalists, workers voice concernsTwo very interesting pieces over the weekend at the Miami Herald on the Turkey Point hearing in Homestead on Thursday evening with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission:On Friday, Herald staff writer John Dorschner framed the public hearing in terms of a debate between representatives of some fairly heavy-hitting environmentalist groups, concerned over salt water contamination of the fresh waterStop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-32641000000426209592009-04-22T21:34:00.000-04:002009-04-23T09:40:34.544-04:00Two Turkey Point meetings with NRC on ThursdayTwo Turkey Point hearings are set for tomorrow, Thursday April 23rd, with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commisssion.The first is a meeting for local elected officials "to discuss the role that the NRC will play in the anticipated review of the Florida Power and Light company (FP&L) application for a combined license for the proposed Turkey Point Units 6 and 7."Local Elected Officials NRC Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-25149658563186515032009-04-20T11:16:00.003-04:002009-04-20T11:23:50.018-04:00South Daytona challenges FPL to show them the money!The city of South Daytona is challenging FPL to show it the money!The city's challenge to drop FPL as its local electricity distributor, reported earlier at Stop FPL, have expanded to a demand that the power giant justify its recent request for a base-rate increase to electricity customers.South Daytona has demanded that FPL open it's books to show why the base-rate increase is necessary and are Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-54213663072192903192009-04-16T14:59:00.004-04:002009-04-16T15:02:35.994-04:00Coconut Grove FPL Committee Update at Village Council MeetingHat tip to West Grove Political Beat blogger Stephen Murray for this item.Seems tonight (April 16) is the Coconut Grove Village Council meeting at City Hall and on the agenda is "an update on the Florida Power and Light Committee" ...The FPL Committee is headed by Harlene Kennedy and is trying to prevent high voltage, above-ground lines from being installed in the Grove. An ideal situation for Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-38448515489878304452009-04-16T14:49:00.003-04:002009-04-16T14:53:22.110-04:00FPL prominent in Eye On Miami roundup on 'Environmental Issues We Are Facing'Genius of Despair gives a nice (well, frightening, really!) roundup today at Eye on Miami of the pressing environmental issues facing all who live in Miami-Dade.FPL related exigencies noted, include numbers 1, 2 and 6, which we've taken the liberty of reprinting here:1. Nuclear and Coal Technologies Need to be Removed from the Renewable Portfolio:These two technologies will take away funding for Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-29004129829150360462009-04-13T17:18:00.005-04:002009-04-13T17:24:46.551-04:00Michael Mayo: FPL executive pay jolts the outrage meterSun-Sentinel columnist Michael Mayo has been doing some further reading into executive pay levels at FPL ... and he's outraged.In the face of a 30% base-rate hike request, he's outraged at FPL executives' shameless "country club memberships, home security systems, leased vehicles and gasoline, even flights and lodging for an annual physical."FPL's response? Spokesperson Jackie Anderson resonded Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-21965057876821931272009-04-13T15:00:00.004-04:002009-04-13T15:07:10.476-04:00South Miami proposes FPL power line alternativesThe Miami Herald reported in its Gables/S. Miami neighbors section Sunday the vote by South Miami Commissioners last week to oppose FPL high-voltage transmission lines coming through their community and propose alternate routes further West.Commissioners also voted to support bills in the Florida House and Senate that would give communities more power in dealing with utilites over selection of Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-891663081750574812009-04-09T14:13:00.005-04:002009-04-09T14:18:47.720-04:00Repower America peititons Congress to close carbon pollution loopholeClosing the carbon pollution loophole will create jobs. It's that simple.We need those jobs and in two days Repower America will deliver a petition to Congress to demand urgent action. More than 65,000 people have already signed.Please sign the online petition now at RePower America!Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-82658621192704517642009-04-08T16:50:00.004-04:002009-04-08T16:54:35.777-04:00FPL requests OK on $1.5 billion 300-mile gas pipeline from Palm Beach to GainesvilleThe Sun-Sentinel's Julie Patel reported today that on Tuesday Florida Power & Light proposed to the Florida Public Service commission the construction of "a $1.5 billion underground pipeline that stretches 300 miles from Palm Beach County to Bradford County near Gainesville as early as 2014."The exact route will be determined after a "comprehensive public outreach process to obtain feedback” Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-58458052653602688212009-04-08T16:46:00.003-04:002009-04-08T16:50:12.913-04:00More Follow the Money: Sun-Sentinel's Michael Mayo on ... flights & lodging for exec physicals?!?You could wonder all day long what your monthly FPL bill goes to pay for, but ... out-of-state flights and loding so that FPL's top execs can go get a physical checkup?And, this when they're proposing a $1billion base rate hike for their Florida customers.'You gotta be kidding!' you say ... Well, Sun-Sentinel columnist Michael Mayo isn't.Read his full column online, here.Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-75057899465701648972009-04-07T09:17:00.005-04:002009-04-07T09:29:27.212-04:00Follow the money: your monthly bill, FPL CEO compensation and sleeping guards at Turkey PointEver wonder how much of our monthly electricity bills go toward supplying us with ... well, electricity?The Miami Herald reports today on the annual salary increases of the CEOs of FPL Group and its Florida Power & Light subsidiary, which of course comes right out of all our monthly electricity bills.According to the Herald: FPL Group (FPL), the parent of Florida Power & Light, announced that itsStop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-30596729138587615322009-04-06T10:20:00.007-04:002009-04-06T10:29:35.816-04:00It's official! FPL selects US1 corridor for high-voltage transmission lineOf course everyone knew this would be the case: FPL has announced that it has selected US 1 as the route for the Turkey Point 6 & 7 Transmission Line project, running 100-foot towers carrying 230-KV high-voltage lines from Palmetto Bay, through Pinecrest, South Miami and Coconut Grove.The Village of Pinecrest posted a copy of the official FPL letter and accompanying map, here.Now, the ball is in Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-30320657643642062192009-04-06T09:59:00.016-04:002009-04-06T10:34:37.647-04:00Grove Village Council, South Miami Commission (again) considering FPL Transmission LinesThe Miami Herald reported online Saturday that the Coconut Grove Village Council has set up a committee to look at FPL related issues, including "burying overhead power lines underground to preventing power outages to finding out if the utility has plans to install new high-voltage transmission lines within Coconut Grove or nearby."Meanwhile, the South Miami City Commission has posted two Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-43305584697442110022009-04-03T00:23:00.003-04:002009-04-03T00:27:05.480-04:00Who are they trying to kid? Letter from Treasure Coast newspapers readerThe Scripps-Treasure Coast newspapers published a letter to the editor today at their TCPalm.com website that says it all:Who are they trying to kid? In order to get customers to pay an additional billion dollars a year in their base rates, Florida Power & Light has applied for a base rate increase of 31 percent. According to Charlie Beck of the Office of Public Counsel, this is the biggest rateStop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-53248187294657584702009-04-02T09:57:00.002-04:002009-04-02T10:02:31.140-04:00Seaweed clogs St. Lucie reactor 2 cooling pipe, causing shutdownReuters reports today that operators at the St. Lucie power plant shut down nuclear reactor 2 "due to lowering condenser vacuum caused by algae and seaweed clogging the cooling water intake."There are two 839 MW Units 1 and 2 at the station, located on Hutchinson Island in St. Lucie County. Unit 1 remained in service.Read the Reuters story online, here.Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-52589725197790616672009-04-02T09:54:00.004-04:002009-04-02T10:03:02.329-04:00Ah, the chutzpah! FPL rate hikes not kosher, says Sun-Sentinel readerDoncha just love those Sun-Sentinel readers?In response to the paper's coverage of the FPL base rate hike request, reader Bronen Bello of Pompano Beach responds:Re: "FPL seeks 30 percent increase in base rate" in your March 19 edition. I read that a primary factor in the increase is to "retain investor confidence" by providing a 12.5 percent rate of return to the company's stockholders. Where do Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-87341461028432728232009-03-31T14:04:00.004-04:002009-03-31T14:11:08.317-04:00After heated debate, "clean" energy bill moves out of Senate committeeThis morning SB 1154 moved out of the Florida Senate's Communications, Energy and Public Utilities committee "after heated debate," reports the Sun-Sentinel's Julie Patel on the "House Keys" blog.If the Bill makes it into law it would require 20 percent of Florida's power to be "clean" energy by 2020 -- though nuclear energy would be allowed to constitute a full 25% of that quota, with 50% comingStop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-13669385406077706572009-03-31T10:40:00.008-04:002009-03-31T10:54:27.740-04:00FPL, solar and RECs: higher costs, fewer jobs and less clean energy for consumersInteresting story last week in the Sarasota Herald Tribune outlines the battle over solar energy looming between big power companies like FPL and consumers, as the legislature is poised to pass a new energy law requiring power companies to generate 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020.The story, by Zac Anderson, points out that State legislators are favoring the system Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-28666301078214578492009-03-30T15:32:00.007-04:002009-03-30T15:58:29.163-04:00Nuclear would get 25% of all new "clean energy" under Florida Senate billThe Florida Senate's energy and utilities committee is set to hear first thing Tuesday morning Senate Bill 1154, which would define nuclear power as "clean energy" and allow for a full 25% of all new "clean energy" generated in the State to come from nuclear power.The St. Pete Times reports today that only half of new clean energy in the State as defined by the Senate bill would actually come Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-24171728192493713352009-03-30T12:33:00.006-04:002009-03-30T16:48:08.760-04:00Environmentalists concerned over FPL's planned expansion of Turkey PointThe Miami Herald reported Sunday that environmental groups concerned over saltwater intrusion into the Biscayne Bay estuary point to FPL's planned expansion of its Turkey Point power plant as one of the projects of most concern.According to the Herald report:Florida Power and Light's planned expansion of the Turkey Point nuclear facility also threatens the fresh water supply of many [commerciallyStop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-68523532756034073992009-03-30T09:59:00.003-04:002009-03-30T10:02:08.066-04:00Palm Beach Post readers weigh in on FPL base rate hikePalm Beach Post readers weigh in on FPL base rate hike:Reality check for FPL; fuel prices won't be dropping ...When oil goes back up, so will bills ...Public counsel should block increase ...Read the letters to the editor of the Palm Beach Post, here.Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-11988018666772451742009-03-30T09:37:00.004-04:002009-03-30T09:51:21.400-04:00More on FPL no-show at Turkey Point meeting: Miami HeraldThe Miami Herald ran a story Sunday in it's Pinecrest-Bays neighbors section on FPL's "no show" at last Thursday's public meeting in Cutler Bay, convened by Miami-Dade Commissioner Katy Sorensen.The Herald confirmed Stop FPL's assessment that it was a "standing room only" crowd -- WPLG-Local 10 TV's undercount of 50 a real disservice to the amount of concern and level of mobilization by residentsStop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-54204774965383061402009-03-28T01:00:00.000-04:002009-03-28T01:00:01.030-04:00March 28: Three Mile Island and Earth HourToday, March 28th, marks both the 30th anniversay of the Three Mile Island nuclear accident and the third anniversary of Earth Hour.Quite a coincidence ...Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-91285822587080236232009-03-27T09:43:00.021-04:002009-03-27T13:09:58.766-04:00FPL backs out of Turkey Point nuclear safety meetingFlorida Power & Light representatives failed to show last night at the South Dade Government Center to discuss nuclear safety at the Turkey Point power plant.That, to the surprise of none of those present, as word had already circulated among the citizens and residents of Miami-Dade County who turned up in order to share their concerns at the public meeting called by Commissioner Katy Sorensen (Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-64305861622330314212009-03-26T13:10:00.008-04:002009-03-26T13:28:03.025-04:00Turkey Points ... new artist's graphic from the creators of "When the Turkey Points at You!"This just in from the creators of When the Turkey Points at You! Hmmmm ... what's that Turkey blowin' out it's tailfeathers? And, is that FPL in the Caterpillar trying to 'doze public opposition?We'll add this one to our list of Stop FPL Favorite Cartoons ...p.s. something strange happened to the original colors in the upload ... will try to figure it out and repost if we do!Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-76648055936551846382009-03-26T08:42:00.005-04:002009-03-26T08:47:44.407-04:00Sorensen tells FPL: Address Turkey Point concernsIn a letter to the Miami Herald this morning, Miami-Dade County Commissioner Katy Sorensen (District 8) said that FPL officials "prefer not to attend" tonight's scheduled meeting to discuss safety concerns involving the nuclear reactor at the Turkey Point power generating station.Follows is the text of Commissioner Sorensen's letter, as published in the Herald:After reading the disturbing story Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-1608683868012231182009-03-25T13:15:00.002-04:002009-03-25T14:39:35.981-04:00ONLINE PETITION: STOP FPL's TURKEY POINT 6 & 7 NUCLEAR REACTORS NOWHere's your chance to tell your elected and appointed local, state and federal officials that you do NOT want FPL's Turkey Point reactors 6 & 7 to be licensed and built ...Click here to sign the online petition now ...WE THE UNDERSIGNED CITIZENS AND RESIDENTS OF FLORIDA AND MIAMI-DADE COUNTY EXPRESS OUR COMPLETE OPPOSITION TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF TWO NEW NUCLEAR REACTOR UNITS 6 & 7 AT THE TURKEY Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-73852657269068241122009-03-25T13:07:00.011-04:002009-03-25T13:16:26.979-04:00Stop FPL Group now at FacebookHey, it's time to crank the party up a notch and move it into the social networking realm ...Join the new "Stop FPL" group at Facebook! I mean, hey, if you don't want to have some fun, you can't be in this Stop FPL revolution (to paraphrase our dear ol' Ma, Mary Harris Jones). Just click below to join:http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=72746947362Hosted by none other than your Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-10134004117459121152009-03-25T11:12:00.002-04:002009-03-25T11:14:47.337-04:00And what do we do with Turkey Point when sea level rises?You gotta love that gimleteye, for pointing out the obvious in today's post over at Eye on Miami:Completely lost in the discussion of Florida Power and Light's bum-rush to build two new nuclear reactors at Turkey Point, costing rate payers more than $18 billion, is what happens in the course of events if sea level rise occurs rapidly and requires the decommissioning of the power plant.Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-22492990416673658132009-03-25T11:02:00.006-04:002009-03-25T11:12:22.057-04:00Competing FL Senate bills signal battle over "clean" vs "renewable energy"The Tampa Tribune reports today on the battle lines being drawn in the State Legislature over the definition of "clean" energy versus truly "renewable" energy sources.Sen. Lee Constantine (R-Altamonte Springs) has introduced "Senate Bill 2490, a measure requiring that 20 percent of the power provided by Florida electric utilities be made with renewable resources such as wind and solar," the paperStop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-33354588222146032142009-03-24T15:34:00.013-04:002009-03-24T16:48:01.417-04:00Nuclear Regulatory Commission to hold Turkey Point 6 & 7 hearing in Homestead in AprilMiami-Dade County residents will have a chance to speak their mind at the public meeting convened by County Commissioner Katy Sorensen this Thursday, March 26th at 6:30 PM at the South Miami-Dade Government Center, 10710 SW 211 Street, Room 203, Cutler Bay.But, that won't be the end of it ... EyeOnMiami has informed that there will be an additional opportunity for the public to participate in a Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-51172738300068157002009-03-24T12:34:00.004-04:002009-03-24T12:40:35.192-04:00Another Brilliant FPL Cartoon: Courtesy of Jim Morin, The Miami HeraldAnother brilliant FPL cartoon in today's Miami Herald, courtesy of Jim Morin, showing two FPL "suits" and their out of work victim. In clear reference to the requested FPL base rate hike, the caption on the cartoon reads:THERE GOES ANOTHER VICTIM OF THE ECONOMIC MELTDOWN... 'TASE HIM, BRO!!! Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-8257751839720199992009-03-24T11:35:00.007-04:002009-03-24T11:41:14.596-04:00ZNet article on Palm Beach activists jailed for protecting environment against FPL power plantVery well-researched and thoughtful piece yesterday by Howard Lisnoff at ZNet, titled Jailed Activists Seek to Free Enslaved Environment, about the West County Energy Center (WCEC) in Palm Beach and the arrest and trial of the environmental activists who've tried to stop it.As Lisnoff points out:The [WCEC] power plant being built by Florida Power & Light will release 12.3 tons of carbon dioxide aStop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-10626942817562667532009-03-24T09:43:00.002-04:002009-03-24T09:48:34.371-04:00Reject FPL hike, says Bradenton Herald: "Rate request excessive in recession"The Bradenton Herald today joined in the call to reject FPL's outrageous request for a base-rate hike, publishing an editorial that calls the rate request "excessive," particularly in the midst of an economic recession: We’ve got to admire the chutzpah radiated by Florida Power & Light.Their creative-writing division came up with a classic snow job in an appeal to our environmental Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-46512598624535310132009-03-23T16:47:00.006-04:002009-03-23T16:56:12.491-04:00Florida growth least in 60 years ... so why all the electricity, why two new nukes, why now?Alan Farago raises a very cogent point in his contribution last week to Counter Punch, titled "The Recession, the Developers and Baseball ..."In the halls of government in cities like Miami, where the jackhammers and cranes and cement trucks have all gone quiet, there is a palpable sense of nostalgia, broken only by hope for a new $500 million stadium or, as Florida Power and Light would have it,Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-25685749348121643552009-03-23T14:43:00.003-04:002009-03-23T14:45:27.216-04:00New Feature: Stop FPL Favorite CartoonsTwo brilliant cartoons in less than a week -- the first at the Sun-Sentinel, the second at Coconut Grove Grapevine -- have inspired us to launch a new sidebar feature: "Stop FPL Favorite Cartoons."Leaving it at the top of the right-hand sidebar for now, but will soon drop it down nearer our "Favorite Videos."Now that we have two ... anybody care to make it THREE favorite cartoons? Submit yours Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-63379071570064627342009-03-23T13:50:00.005-04:002009-03-23T13:59:25.271-04:00Coconut Grove activists to question FPL plans for high-voltage lines down US1Coconut Grove activists have joined to question FPL's proposed US1 route for the Turkey Point 6 & 7 Transmission Lines project, carrying high-voltage electricity on 100-foot concrete towers along South Dixie Highway from Cutler Bay into downtown Miami.According to a blog post over the weekend at Coconut Grove Grapevine, local Grove activist Harlene Kennedy has joined with Village Council member Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-57890351409463875522009-03-23T11:23:00.003-04:002009-03-23T11:31:48.621-04:00PSC should just say No to FPL rate-hike request: Miami Herald editorialThe Miami Herald editorial this morning took on FPL and the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) in its editorial this morning condemning the FPL request for a billion-dollar rate hike request, to begin January 2010: The Public Service Commission should emphatically deny the request, though not for the sheer audacity of FPL's timing. The request should be rejected because it isn't warranted --Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-61087837987967087962009-03-23T10:55:00.004-04:002009-03-23T11:02:32.296-04:00Herald: Divisions among South Miami commissioners prevented unified opposition against FPLAs the Herald reported on Sunday, the failure of the South Miami City commission to pass either of two resolutions at it's meeting last Tuesday means that "residents opposed to adding planned power lines to South Miami will have to wait until next month for their political leaders to voice their opposition."Nothing new from what we'd already reported at Stop FPL. Except that the paradox of Mayor Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-74670661151550918492009-03-20T16:08:00.013-04:002009-03-20T16:34:18.362-04:00Ummm, how do you spell "sellout" ... B-U-B-R-I-S-K-I , is it? Former Obama flak to put on new FPL hatThis just in from the "Post on Politics" blog: "Former Obama, Florida Democratic Party communications director heads to FPL"In a post by Michael C. Bender of today's date ...Word is Mark Bubriski, who led the communications effort for Barack Obama’s Florida campaign last year, has accepted a job to become director of media relations for Florida Power & Light, the electric utility serving all of Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-62734389675197587912009-03-20T11:05:00.005-04:002009-03-20T11:19:04.765-04:00FPL Corporate Comms now following Stop FPL!Received notification today that "Anne-Louise Seabury is now following you on Twitter!"So we checked out Anne-Louise's twitter profile here and then Googled to find her LinkedIn profile here:Turns out Anne-Louise works in Corporate Communications at FPL, which means that Stop FPL has obviously come to their attention and they're interested in seeing what's being said here about them. Which gives Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-73266804850580522742009-03-19T16:17:00.003-04:002009-03-19T16:21:27.192-04:00Chan Lowe's Lowe-Down on the FPL rate hike requestCourtesy of Chan Lowe's Lowe-Down at the Sun-Sentinel ...FPL rate hike requestIt's too bad they can't figure out a way to generate electricity from chutzpah, because if they could, we FPL customers would be paying the lowest rates in the nation.After a rainstorm--that's right, a rainstorm---causes tens of thousands to lose their power, FPL wants to squeeze an additional $1 billion out of us, Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-45545110654960688482009-03-19T15:42:00.003-04:002009-03-19T15:48:17.314-04:00FPL hiring out-of-state workers, say Florida hard hatsConstruction workers to protest at new FPL plant ... film at 11 !!WPTV Channel 5 reports online:LOXAHATCHEE, FL -- Construction workers across South Florida will be protesting Thursday at the new Florida Power and Light facility today.Workers say the construction company working on the plant in Loxahatchee has been hiring out of state workers instead of local workers.The power plant is expected Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-55925433123637732722009-03-19T15:11:00.006-04:002009-03-19T15:23:45.512-04:00FPL's misinformation campaign: Sowing the seeds of confusion by calling a rate hike a rate cutWrites the Sun-Sentinel's Julie Patel: Florida consumer advocate concerned, customers confused by FPL rate increase request ...And columnist Mike Mayo: After the shock: FPL’s rate hike request just a starting point ...And Charlie Beck, of the Office of Public Council, was astounded by the news, according to John Dorschner at the Herald ... http://tinyurl.com/dcxxv2.And the confused Orlando Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-44584197459465604482009-03-19T14:08:00.007-04:002009-03-19T15:41:30.667-04:00Earth First! Roadshow in South Florida this weekend: March 20 - Miami / March 21 - Jupiter / March 22 - Lake WorthThis just in from Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition, which has been on the front lines -- literally -- in the fight against FPL over the West County Energy Center and Barley Barber swamp, and has done some absolutely great demonstrations in front of the FPL headquarters in Juno ...EARTH FIRST! ROADSHOW IN SOUTH FLORIDA THIS WEEKEND ...3/20, Miami, FL8:00pm Black Mangrove CollectiveThis Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-44805852344822903882009-03-19T10:31:00.004-04:002009-03-19T12:39:40.585-04:00More on the proposed FPL "billion dollar" base rate increaseMore on the proposed FPL "billion dollar" base rate increase from Julie Patel, blogging at the Sun-Sentinel here http://tinyurl.com/ddu5m7 and main story here ... http://tinyurl.com/dl4qqxAnd, from John Dorschner of the Miami Herald here ... http://tinyurl.com/dcxxv2.Even the public utility watchers are astounded by this one, as Dorschner's story points out:''Wow,'' said Charlie Beck of the Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-82944780431048867892009-03-18T16:29:00.014-04:002009-03-18T16:51:10.211-04:00FPL seeks $800-million-plus base rate increase, for 4.5% avg monthly bill hikeIn a press release out of its Juno, FL headquarters today, FPL requested that anticipated monthly base rate increase previously set at a total of between $850-$900 million dollars that will go in part toward paying for another two new nuclear reactors at the Turkey Point power station in Miami-Dade County.Released on the same day as FPL revealed that 11,000 customers had lost power in South Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-59804311921418018142009-03-18T15:12:00.003-04:002009-03-18T15:17:12.622-04:00One rainstorm and ... 11,000 FPL Customers Without PowerUnbelievable that one rainstorm would knock out power to 11,000 FPL customers in South Florida. Not a tropical storm, not a hurricane ... just rain and wind!!!Whatever do we pay them so much for??Red all about it here and here and here and here ...Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-10658050189431719832009-03-17T17:06:00.005-04:002009-03-17T17:16:05.432-04:00Miami-Dade Commissioner Katy Sorensen calls community meeting on Turkey Point safety concernsMiami-Dade County Commissioner Katy Sorensen has announced that she will host a community meeting in South Miami-Dade to discuss the growing list of safety concerns and allegations that have surfaced over the last couple years regarding the FPL Turkey Point nuclear power facility.Hat tip to the Homestead is Home blog for timely posting of the news of this meeting, which will be held on Thursday, Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-29408303782810693902009-03-17T16:48:00.006-04:002009-03-17T17:02:37.916-04:00Power transmission lines legislative update from Rep. Ronald Brise (D-North Miami)Florida House Bill 1315 -- tentatively titled "Construction of Electric Transmission Lines" -- was heard this morning by the lower chamber's Energy & Utility Policy Committee in Tallahassee, according to a press release issued today by the office of the bill's sponsor in the House, Rep. Ronald Brise (D-North Miami).Action on the bill by the House committee, which offers redress to local Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-82149159331412116042009-03-17T11:40:00.019-04:002009-03-27T11:54:46.842-04:00When the Turkey Points at You! ... a South Miami originalThis just in from "Bobnoxious" in South Miami ... the lyrics and .mp3 download link for a humble musical contribution to the ongoing "discussion" over the Turkey Point transmission lines coming through communities along US1.We can't figure out how to upload audio to the Blogger platform, so we've taken the liberty of plugging it into video format "for your listening pleasure," below ...If you're Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-28967340334322099762009-03-17T09:29:00.003-04:002009-03-17T09:38:36.581-04:00Eye on Miami: FPL's determination to waste the Everglades, one power plant at a timeGimleteye's post at Eye on Miami this morning about FPL's determination to "waste the Everglades, one power plant at a time" is so well put, that there's no more that can really be added here.It's an argument that is very clear and concise and one that all South Floridians should be paying attention to. As gimleteye points out to the corporate apologists at FPL, the company's employees ...The Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-88722408654129195812009-03-16T17:25:00.020-04:002009-03-16T17:47:40.520-04:00Transmission line bills already in committee in Tally, but So Miami mayor proposes ownIt is, shall we say, rather unusual once the Legislative Session has already begun and bills are being discussed and introduced into Committee hearings by their respective Legislator-sponsors in both the State House and Senate in Tallahassee, that an elected official from a small city of 10,000 should not only suddenly come up a with a proposed amendment to Florida Statute ...And then to also Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-2037691505647865442009-03-16T15:31:00.026-04:002009-03-16T16:33:15.127-04:00Florida House, Senate bills designed to promote nuclear & gas-fired power plant investmentFor anyone at all interested in moving toward truly renewable sources of energy, in need of some serious public scrutiny are a pair of companion bills currently under consideration in the Florida House and Senate that are unabashedly "designed to promote utility investment in nuclear or integrated gasification combined cycle power plants and allow for the recovery in rates of all prudently Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-18553569573437888742009-03-13T14:16:00.001-04:002009-03-13T14:31:35.919-04:00Turkey Point senior operator letter: FPL ignored danger in trying to reboot reactorHat tip to Eye on Miami for having covered for our "blind spot" and realized that the Miami Herald actually posted the resignation letter of Turkey Point chief operator David Hoffman as part of it's coverage yesterday ... and for reposting the letter today.Here, in full, is Mr. Hoffman's letter (click on image to enlarge)...The Miami Herald's original coverage is available online, here.Eye on Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-30283030135756038932009-03-13T09:35:00.001-04:002009-03-13T13:49:25.583-04:00FPL 30-year franchise agreement opposed by Martin County CommissionerKudos to Martin County Commissioner Sarah Heard (District 4) for standing up and questioning the merits of a proposed FPL franchise agreement that locks the county in to a 30-year deal ... and would pass the price tag along as a hidden cost to consumers.In a guest column this week in the Scripps-Treasure Coast newspaper chain, Heard addressed Martin County's 30-year franchise agreement within theStop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-21448924320434187312009-03-12T13:08:00.000-04:002009-03-12T13:18:49.251-04:00Miami Herald exposé of safety, security lapses at Turkey Point nuclear stationThe Internet is abuzz today with the Associated Press pickup of this morning's Miami Herald stories about Turkey Point safety and security lapses.Take a look at the number of related stories now listed in a Google News search of "Turkey Point" ...Kudos to business writer John Dorschner for this exposé of the ongoing problems at Turkey Point as FPL tries to move forward with construction of two Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-60914507793114298232009-03-12T09:18:00.000-04:002009-03-12T09:29:15.041-04:00FPL's nuclear workers still asleep at the switch? Long hours, exhaustion the causeThe Miami Herald reports today that "Five times since 2000, operators of U.S. nuclear power plants have been found slumped over their controls asleep, according to federal documents."And the reason, says the newspaper, is "exhaustion from long stretches of overtime." Citing federal documents, today's report goes on to say that:In the first six weeks of of 2008, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-80361239654755798432009-03-11T16:29:00.000-04:002009-03-11T17:22:31.762-04:00Asplundh: FPL's $2.37 billion partner in 'Distribution Vegetation Management'If you really, really like Asplundh ...... you'll just love the all New Asplundh Diecast 1:34 Scale Model Replica Bucket Trucks you've all been waiting for. Yes, they've arrived! Click here to pre-order yours today!!! (Seriously!!!)Actually, our favorite section in the story we ran across in Transmission & Distribution World magazine, titled FPL Invests in Infrastructure Resistant to Hurricanes, Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-74958210299004125162009-03-10T16:50:00.000-04:002009-03-11T16:50:33.738-04:00Biscayne Park votes down early FPL franchise renewal; transmission lines contentiousThe Biscayne Park Village Commission reversed course during the March 3rd second reading of a resolution calling for early renewal of a 30-year agreement with FPL that villagers said would unnecessarily lock them into a franchise deal with FPL over the use of the electric power distribution grid and placement of transmission lines in the community.After having voted previously 3-2 in favor of theStop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-7004588535754339652009-03-10T16:24:00.001-04:002009-03-24T16:49:22.766-04:00Could Georgia ruling by U.S. NRC panel impact Turkey Point 6 & 7 reactors?A three-judge panel of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has ruled that an application to build more nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Augusta, Georgia, was incomplete because it had not taken into adequate consideration management of radioactive nuclear waste when the new reactors begin operation.For Miami-Dade citizens and environmental groups still hoping to block the contruction of Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-32480568898497040622009-03-09T09:59:00.000-04:002009-03-09T10:58:14.338-04:00Miami Herald, WWF get it wrong on FPL and the "renewable portfolio standard"Hat tip to gimleteye over at Eye on Miami for Sunday's post taking to task the Miami Herald's editorial support of the "'renewable portfolio standard'' that is up for consideration by the legislature at Gov. Charlie Crist's behest.Titled "FPL and environmentalists: one hand giveth, the other hand taketh away...," the post rightfully points out the shortsightedness of the Herald's editorial, "Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-10294099134636238122009-03-06T14:33:00.000-05:002009-03-06T14:37:39.680-05:00Stop FPL favorite videos: new feature, courtesy of YouTube & Everglades Earth First!Stop FPL presents ... the "Stop FPL Video Favorites" widget in the right-hand column of this site, linking to our favorite online videos at the Everglades Earth First! channel at YouTube.Instead of searching YouTube, you can now just wait until the EEF! videos rotate through in sequence and watch them all!Among our favorites: the Wackenhut guards "Are You Sleeping?" video and the amazing footage Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-82439028081726881762009-03-06T12:35:00.000-05:002009-03-06T12:42:56.985-05:00St. Lucie nuclear plant: the good news, the bad newsThe "good news" is that the one-minute sounding of all 90 sirens you heard at noon today emanating from the St. Lucie power plant were, the Sun-Sentinel tells us, just part of a quarterly test of the plant's outdoor warning sirens.If you ever happen to hear those sirens sounding for a period of, say, five-minutes, well ... let's just say that you'll know you've got "bad news."Read the reassuring Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-8851748812147814392009-03-06T11:05:00.011-05:002009-03-16T16:52:44.335-04:00Florida House, Senate bills would grant cities more power over high-voltage transmission line constructionHat tip to Genius over at Eye on Miami for noting a new bill introduced in Tallahassee this week in the Florida House by Rep. Ronald Brisé (D-North Miami) and sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Gary Siplin (D-Orlando) that would give local muncipalities much greater control over construction of electric transmission lines by electric utilities through their communities.Tentatively titled "Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-89022414454679805182009-03-06T09:39:00.000-05:002009-03-06T09:49:11.863-05:00St. Lucie nuclear plant cuts back output, more evidence FPL over capacityIn yet another sign that with the ongoing economic recession FPL is now over-capacity in its Florida power plants, particulary its nuclear power plants in St. Lucie and at Turkey Point, Reuters news agency has reported that the St. Lucie nuclear power plant has slipped to 62 percent of power as of today.In a story datelined out of New York, Reuters said that the 38% cut to power was detailed in Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-51618250680441861232009-03-05T12:19:00.000-05:002009-03-05T14:38:40.380-05:00Residents want to stop FPL high-voltage lines along US 1, Florida East Coast RailroadThree proposed routes for FPL high-voltage transmission lines ran into strong opposition from local residents at what the Miami Herald described today as "a packed South Miami/Florida Power & Light Company workshop Monday."FPL representatives faced off at South Miami City Hall against a standing-room only crowd expressing concerns over health risks from electric and magnetic fields (EMF) from theStop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-59597843368922445622009-03-05T11:28:00.000-05:002009-03-05T13:57:42.951-05:00Your FPL dollars at work: the FPL Pavilion at the 17th GreenEver wonder what the money you pay to FPL every month goes toward? Electricity, right? Wrong! It also goes for a lot of other things, including marketing spend ...FPL, like most big private corporations, has a huge marketing budget that serves not only to print up masses of glossy brochures touting things like how clean nuclear energy is, but also to ... fund the 2,322 square-foot public Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-30071194532481200192009-03-04T14:15:00.000-05:002009-03-04T14:41:16.809-05:00Enter ... Christine Todd Whitman, touting nuclear energy in the shadow of Turkey PointAs if on cue, no sooner has Gov. Charlie Christ announced to the legislature in Tallahassee and all Floridians that he wants to include nuclear energy in his "diversified" portfolio of clean energy for the state, than we are so generously treated to a visit by former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, in South Florida to speak on the "the benefits of nuclear energy, its impact on air Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-52066778996303798212009-03-04T09:49:00.000-05:002009-03-04T10:51:53.468-05:00Gov. Crist wants diversified energy supply, FPL continues to push nuclearThe FPL PR campaign against choosing renewables that actually offset carbon emissions and in favor of gas-fired and nuclear-powered generation doesn't miss a beat.While Florida Gov. Charlie Crist was telling the State legislature in Tallahassee that his "administration is committed to a diverse energy supply that balances solar, wind and nuclear," FPL spokespersons were continuing to push their Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-67302650885295356722009-03-03T16:11:00.000-05:002009-03-04T09:07:41.268-05:00FPL makes fortune in 2008, makes "Fortune" list in 2009It's more than appropriate that FPL Group was named to Fortune magazine's list of "Most Admired Companies" this year ... and not because we think FPL Group is to be much admired, at all.It's appropriate because FPL Group truly made a fortune last year -- posting an 82% increase in profits during 4Q-2008, 25% for the year -- while hitting customers with a fuel surcharge that raised monthly Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-1526280151615665552009-03-03T09:35:00.000-05:002009-03-05T13:05:40.652-05:00South Miami Mayor links to FPL questionedThings may be heating up for Mayor Horace Feliu of South Miami, who apparently was caught off-guard last night during a packed hearing on FPL Turkey Point 6 & 7 Transmission line routes up US-1 and through South Miami.A reader writes in to tell Stop FPL that Feliu stuttered, stammered and momentarily lost his cool when one member of the audience questioned the link between Turkey Point 6 & 7 Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-21960463701412741252009-03-02T09:23:00.001-05:002009-03-02T09:28:11.708-05:00Boca neighborhood hopes to stop FPL, T-Mobile tower extensionBoca Raton area residents are protesting FPL plans to add a T-mobile cellular extension to a 70-foot transmission tower in their area, brining the total height of the tower to 80 feet, according to a story today in the South Forida Sun-Sentinel.The paper reports that the The Palm Beach Farms Neighborhood Association is against the proposed extension, which "does not require City Council approval.Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-78547520613204074702009-02-27T16:11:00.000-05:002009-02-27T16:26:50.521-05:00Biscayne Park citizens want to Stop FPL franchise agreement; Commission vote set for March 3rdCitizens of the tiny Village of Biscayne Park will have one last chance to stop the approval by their local commission of a 30-year agreement with FPL that villagers say will unnecessarily lock them into a deal with FPL over the use of the electric power distribution grid.Writing in to the Miami Herald's Soapbox today, villagers voiced concern that the 3-2 majority of the Biscayne Park CommissionStop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-73378198934814267042009-02-27T13:07:00.001-05:002009-02-27T13:30:15.483-05:00FPL plans to request new $800-950 million annual base rate hikesVery interesting paragraph way down in an excerpt from the new 10-K SEC filing by Florida Power & Light Co, issued this morning:In November 2008, FPL notified the FPSC that it intends to initiate a base rate proceeding in March 2009. In the notification, FPL stated that it expects to request an $800 million to $950 million annual increase in base rates beginning on January 1, 2010 and an Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-59579811395518445422009-02-26T17:16:00.000-05:002009-03-05T13:06:57.765-05:00Opposition to FPL Turkey Point transmission lines growingEye on Miami posts today that opposition is apparently growing to FPL high-voltage transmission lines in Miami-Dade, with city of Pinecrest Mayor Cindy Lerner having written a letter to FPL asking that the lines along US-1 (South Dixie Highway) be buried or kept within existing right-of-way along the Don Shula Expressway.South Miami residents are meanwhile organizing to oppose the transmission Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-66213165072240001012009-02-26T12:34:00.000-05:002009-02-26T12:48:00.461-05:00Stop FPL from ... taking credit for saving the manatees?!?!You gotta love this one ... FPL taking credit for saving the manatees!Yep, FPL basically taking credit in a Florida Today story up on the Space Coast for the discharge from its power plants staving off the extinction of the manatees.Now admittedly, the manatee population in Florida is suffering from a decline in warm water habitat. And, FPL power plants do generate warm water discharge. But, to Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-33222444410813896402009-02-26T09:55:00.000-05:002009-02-26T10:00:25.756-05:00South Daytona effort to Stop FPL electricity monopoly hits resistanceSouth Daytona providing electric power directly to its citizens? Without the help of FPL?That's something that City Manager Joe Yarborough and City Attorney Scott Simpson have been looking at for the past three years. Now they're hitting resistance from the giant private electricity provider, according to an article in today's East Volusia News-Journal.FPL is now fighting hard in current contractStop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-9789541391284955512009-02-25T15:40:00.001-05:002009-02-25T15:48:29.992-05:00Florida renewable energy groups call for $114 million trust fundA different kind of campaign to effect political change than the type we're accustomed to seeing from FPL and its lobbyists is being generated by three Florida energy groups that have banded together in the Florida Clean Energy Campaign.Last week, the Florida Renewable Energy Association, Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy and Florida Renewable Energy Producers Association banded together to Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-70222110136124629242009-02-25T10:35:00.000-05:002009-02-25T10:46:21.851-05:00Has FPL over-expanded capacity? CEO says customers "cutting back"Electric utilities may not be going the route of the belly-up banking industry, but Andrew Gordon of Investor’s Daily Edge suggests that there are reasons for investors to sell off stocks as the “recession has finally caught up to the utilities.”In an online post at the blog Offshoreinn, titled No Shelter for Safe Investors in Utilities, Gordon is quoted as saying FPL is cutting back spending andStop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-60510893133575192212009-02-24T14:37:00.001-05:002009-02-24T14:51:06.189-05:00Coal is bad. Period. Stop FPL agrees ...Hat tip to Gimleteye over at Eye on Miami for this post, Coal is bad. Period.It's a link to and reprint of Bill McKibben's article Why I’ll Get Arrested To Stop the Burning of Coal, originally published at Yale University's 360Environment.Well worth the read, especially given the lobbying efforts by FPL and others to get the Florida Public Services Commission (PSC) to change the State's Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-74246245287907879042009-02-24T13:01:00.000-05:002009-02-24T15:58:39.385-05:00Stop FPL now @ TwitterAs you've surely noticed, this is a very text-based site ... and we've kept it that way for a reason: to make it as accessible as possible for dial-up Internet users and for easier loading onto mobile web browsers, unburdened by all those large images and graphics you see on lots of sites.Convinced by one of our readers, we've decided to jump on the Twitter bandwagon so that mobile phone users Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-46254520796793734452009-02-23T11:12:00.000-05:002009-02-23T11:34:42.484-05:00Anti-FPL activists gets Palm Beach Post reader supportAnti-FPL protester Panagioti Tsolkas received positive support from Palm Beach Post readers in letters to the editor published by the paper on Sunday.Following criticism in a Feb. 8 column by retired Post editorial writer Dan Moffett, one reader wrote in that the actions of Tsolkas and others arrested for protesting environmental damage by an FPL plant in Palm Beach County are "legitimate Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-85857460760170114572009-02-20T10:58:00.002-05:002009-03-16T14:39:27.325-04:00FPL and Florida politicians: follow the moneyFPL spending to influence Florida election races -- and by extension our elected officials once they're in office and sitting on key committees that deal with energy and utilities -- may seem like the minor leagues as compared with FPL spending on federal elections, if all you're looking at are the amounts of the contributions.After all, we've already detailed that FPL Pac spent a total of Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-37320173483609781702009-02-19T16:35:00.000-05:002009-02-19T17:12:42.369-05:00Anti-FPL activist writes 'Open Letter' from jailPanagioti Tsolkas, Palm Beach County activist incarcerated for protesting the West County Energy Center and sentenced to 60 days in jail "for defending my home from Florida Power and Light," has written an Open letter to people of the Everglades (and those who care about it), posted today at the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition's site.Since writing the letter, Tsolkas was released on a Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-14944451756290854632009-02-18T11:25:00.000-05:002009-02-18T14:38:05.523-05:00FPL hat-racking? Anna Maria Islanders have a story to tellThe 2010 tropical storm season is just around the corner and that means all those out-of-state FPL-affiliated tree-trimming crews from Asplundh and other companies will descend on Florida and commence their annual spate of hat-racking trees, wherever they can find them even remotely close to a power distribution line.The Anna Maria Islander reported in March 2007 on a local couple's horror story.Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-82158642391201560232009-02-17T10:28:00.001-05:002009-02-18T15:56:30.401-05:00FPL reports delay in solar plant constructionFPl has reported a delay in the start of construction of its Space Coast solar power plant, reported Florida Today newspaper.FPL had intended the start building the $78.9 million 10-megawatt Space Coast Next Generation Solar Energy Center in late 2008, the paper reported, but a delay announced in October has been followed by a further delay of today's rescheduled groundbreaking.Apparently to Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-4362066359128151362009-02-14T09:20:00.000-05:002009-03-04T10:15:39.382-05:00FPL hikes electric rates, boosts shareholder payouts 6%Florida Power and Light Co. has boosted electricity bills for Florida consumers by 6.2 percent -- even though fuel costs have fallen dramatically since the summer -- marking the largest increase in electricity bills by any utility in any of the five largest states in the U.S., reports the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.This, despite the fact that "natural gas prices have dropped more than 25 percent Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-42524912755855200942009-02-13T19:57:00.000-05:002009-02-20T10:43:18.325-05:00Anti-FPL demo called in Palm Beach for Feb. 24The Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition has called for a Feb. 18-24 week of solidarity with 26 activists arrested for blockading the construction entrance to the 3,800-MW West County Energy Center in Palm Beach County and to protest the Feb. 2 sentencing of two activists in an earlier protest at the site.On Feb. 18, over a hundred anti-FPL activists gathered and 26 were arrested for Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-4034589043994388552009-02-12T12:46:00.000-05:002009-02-20T11:19:31.394-05:00Online petition to Stop the FPL Monopoly!There's a new online petititon that's been launched to "Stop the Florida Power & Light Monopoly!"Sponsored by a group called People for Fair Utilities, the goal is to get 10,000 signatories in a drive to break FPL's monoplly over electric rates in Florida. The petition reads:It is time that we say "No" to FPL making profits off of our need for electric. I have looked for ways to cut my electric Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-76501314948132017172009-02-09T23:48:00.000-05:002009-03-05T13:07:35.597-05:00FPL transmission lines discussed by South Miami CommissionersSouth Miami City Commissioners debating a proposed land purchase for use as a passive park at US1 and SW 80th Street moved quickly to discussion of FPL's proposed route along US1 for high-voltage transmission lines that could render the land worthless.According to a Miami Herald report, Commissioners ended up voting 4-1 during a Feb. 3rd meeting not to buy vacant land at 6540 Manor Lane, at the Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-40673373914367503852009-02-09T19:29:00.000-05:002009-02-17T12:19:55.283-05:00Turkey Point Unit 4 power output dips to 60%Reuters news agency reported that Nuclear Unit 4 at the Turkey Point power plant dipped to 60 percent power early Monday, Feb. 9, after having been operating at full power on Friday, citing a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission a report.No reason was given for the reduction in power output from the reactor. Reuters noted that "FPL plans to spend about $1.5 billion to add about 400 MW of capacity Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-88421534627283359192009-02-03T15:58:00.000-05:002009-02-17T12:16:16.722-05:00FPL Protesters in Palm Beach Outraged Over SentenceOn Monday, Feb. 2nd, a Palm Beach county judge outraged anti-FPL activists when he sentenced Panagioti Tsolkas and Lynne Purvis for their role in a 2008 road-block protest at a new Florida Power and Light power plant sight.WPBF-TV reported that the judge sentenced Tsolkas to 60 days behind bars and Purvis up to 30 days.Members of Everglades Earth First! and the Palm Beach County Environmental Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-62599980449921482212009-02-03T14:22:00.000-05:002009-02-19T17:36:23.428-05:00FPL customers struggle to pay bills, depositsToday's story in the Miami Herald should erase any doubt about whether or not FPL is going to share the public's pain in the midst of the economic downturn.On the contrary, despite record profits FPL is cracking down on customers struggling to stay current with their ever-rising monthly electricity bill:Late payers can expect a demand from FPL that they make large deposits, have payments deductedStop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-60623535042398129532009-01-28T14:38:00.000-05:002009-02-20T16:37:28.937-05:00FPL could owe $1.4 billion in fines for 2008 blackoutThe Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) could fine FPL as much as $1.4 billion for some 25 "violations of reliability standards" in the runup to a Feb. 26, 2008 blackout that affected more than 2 million Floridians.According to a story in the Palm Beach Post:The maximum penalty for each violation is $1 million a day, and FPL believes FERC could claim that some of the violations started Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-85800086489363375222009-01-27T18:52:00.000-05:002009-02-17T12:16:45.677-05:00FPL Group profits jump 82 percentFPL Group's 2008 profits actually jumped by 82 percent, despite the country being in a recession, reports the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's Julie Patel in a blog post today.Juno Beach-based FPL Group, parent company of Florida Power & Light, reported today that its fourth quarter net income increased from $224 million, or 56 cents a share, in 2007 to $408 million, or $1.01 a share, last year. Its Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342795808686568936.post-43821675166528041342009-01-26T16:08:00.000-05:002009-02-24T16:12:20.171-05:00FPL Rivera plant revamp to hamper Palm Beach reef projectThe Palm Beach Post reports today that FP&L's plan to revamp its Rivera Beach power plant "could throw a wrench into Palm Beach County's efforts to create artificial reefs off its coast."For more than two decades, the county has leased land on the south side of the power plant and used it as a staging area to store rocks and other supplies for artificial reefs.But FPL has warned the county that Stop FPLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435710432891093713noreply@blogger.com0