Anti-FPL demo called in Palm Beach for Feb. 24

The 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 blockading the construction entrance to the power plant, which is adjacent to headwaters of both the Everglades and Loxahatchee River.

On February 2, 2009, two of the activists, Lynne Purvis and Panagioti Tsolkas, were sentenced to 30 days and 60 days, respectively, for their participation in the blockade of the plant's entrance.

The coalition says the plant is being blockaded because:

The WCEC is permitted by the DEP to use over 7 billion gallons of water a year, drawn from surface, aquifer and re-use sources in and near the Everglades. It has also been permitted to emit over 12 million tons of C02 annually—an amount greater than the thirty least polluting nations on Earth.

Read more here about the week of "Solidarity actions with Everglades Earth First! Political Prisoners, Feb 18-24 and the Feb. 24 demonstration called for the DEP Southeast Regional Office 3-5pm at 400 N. Congress, West Palm Beach.

Online 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 or go solar but FPL has us by the you know what. I can live without alot of things but my family and animals need air conditioning to survive in South Florida.

According to the FPL website FPL.com:

"for the full year 2008, FPL Group reported net income on a GAAP basis of approximately $1.64 billion, or $4.07 per share, compared with $1.31 billion, or $3.27 per share, in 2007". That is NET income!

Also on the FPL investors site it states, "We are pleased to report that 2008 was our best year ever, which is something we doubt very many companies can say." And, their future outlook is "FPL group is well positioned for earnings growth in future years".

ANYONE ELSE HAD ENOUGH??? ANYONE ELSE OUTRAGED???

Anyone can sign the "Stop the Florida Power & Light Monopoly!" petition online. Just go to ...

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-the-florida-power-light-monopoly

FPL transmission lines discussed by South Miami Commissioners

South 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 corner of US1 and SW 80th Street.

''It's not a good time to purchase right now,'' Commissioner Velma Palmer said. ``Timing is everything and we just can't afford this at the moment.''

The paper said Commissioner Valerie Newman balked at the initial outlay for the purchase and that she noted ...

South Miami doesn't know where Florida Power & Light lines will cut through the city when the lines are moved later this year or next year.

''If the lines go through or near the park, it will render that property useless,'' Newman said.

UPDATE: Residents want to stop FPL high-voltage lines along US 1, Florida East Coast Railroad

Turkey 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 to the company's existing St Lucie and Turkey Point reactors by 2012."

In addition, the news agency noted that:

In 2009, FPL plans to file with the NRC to build two of Toshiba Corp (6502.T)/Shaw Group Inc's (SGR.N) Westinghouse Electric Co 1,100 MW AP1000 reactors at Turkey Point. FPL however has said it is also considering General Electric Co (GE.N)/Hitachi Ltd's (6501.T) 1,550 MW Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) technology.

If the company decides to go forward with the new reactors, FPL has said the units, 6 and 7, could enter service in the 2018-2020 time frame.

Read the full Reuters story online, here.

FPL Protesters in Palm Beach Outraged Over Sentence

On 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 Coalition protested that the sentence is too harsh and violated the activists' right to free speech.

The full story is online at MSNBC.com, here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28999807/

FPL customers struggle to pay bills, deposits

Today'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 deducted from their bank accounts or have a third-party guarantee payment. FPL says it is following prudent business practices using steps approved by state regulators. FPL earned $789 million last year, down from $836 million in 2007, a drop attributed mostly to the economic slowdown.

FPL's moves have angered some customers. Complaints to state regulators are up 20 percent this year; FPL would not provide exact numbers of affected customers but spokesman Mayco Villafaña said any customer ''who develops a late payment or nonpayment history'' is asked for a deposit. The company disconnects customers only as a last resort, he said -- only after a series of warnings by mail, phone and/or e-mail.

Read the full Herald story online, here.

FPL could owe $1.4 billion in fines for 2008 blackout

The 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 Jan. 1, 2008. That would mean FPL could be liable for violations on as many as 57 days. If fines for 25 charges were levied for all 57 days, FPL could owe as much as $1.4 billion.

The utility has attributed the Feb. 26 blackout to a mistake by a field engineer at a Miami-Dade County substation. Against company policy, the engineer disabled two levels of protection, which allowed a fault to roll across the grid, the company has said.

Read the Post story online, here. Or, read Miami Herald coverage online, here.

FPL Group profits jump 82 percent

FPL 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 annual profit increased 25 percent, from $1.31 billion to $1.64 billion.

Even so, the Group's Florida unit -- Florida Power & Light -- somehow reported a 13 percent drop in fourth quarter earnings and plans to ask Florida State regulators in March for an increase in its base rates to take effect in 2010, the paper noted.

Read the full Sun-Sentinel blog entry online here.

FPL Rivera plant revamp to hamper Palm Beach reef project

The 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 construction at the plant could render the site off limits from 2011 to 2015, County Commission Chairman Jeff Koons said.

Read the full Post story online, here.

Activists jailed over FPL protest in Barley Barber Swamp

On Saturday, 17 Earth First! activists were arrested for entering the Barley Barber Swamp near Lake Okeechobee to demand the protection of Florida old growth ecosystems against the encroachment of FPL.

Everglades Earth First! has charged that aquifer pumping related to FPL's massive 3750 megaWatt Martin County power plant and adjacent 17-mile-long cooling pond are killing the 1,000-year old Cypress trees in Barley Barber, one of the few remaining old growth cypress swamps in the Southeast.

In a press statement, Earth First! noted that "several of the bald cypress trees in Barley Barber are over a thousand years old. They are the oldest in Florida and the entire Southeast region."

According to the press relase, posted online at the Eye on Miami blog:

"Following a five day standoff, six activists entered the swamp through a public waterway and chained themselves to trees. Eleven other activists were swept up by the police in a frivolous attempt to quell the protest. Currently, Everglades Earth First! is confronted with the immediate need to raise $18,000 to bail these courageous activists out of Martin County jail."

Local TV footage posted at Eye On Miami has also been posted on YouTube by Earth First!.

Additional coverage, along with photos and video footage of the 1,000-year old Cypress trees in Barley Barber are online at PlanetSave.com, here.

Activists say FPL is killing 1,000-year-old Cypress Trees

Palm Beach County activists are charging FPL with killing thousand-year-old cypress trees and trying to hide it in 455-acre Barley Barber swamp area, according to a Broward-Palm Beach New Times report.

Activists at Everglades Earth First, already battling FPL in court, says that FPL is pumping water so quickly from the area that the millenial trees are dying off at a rapid rate.

The paper quotes Everglades Earth First activist Russ McSpadden as saying:

"The FPL power plant sucks up water so fast from the aquifer that it is pulling the soil down below, leaving the roots of these ancient trees exposed. The whole place is collapsing."

FPL apparently purchased Barley Barber swamp in Martin County three decades ago and for years gave tours of the area known for its ancient cypress trees and abundant wildlife until closing down the swamp after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Read the full Broward-Palm Beach New Times story online here.

FL PSC says 'clean energy' should include nukes, coal

The Miami Herald reports today that she staff of the state's Public Service Commission has recommended redefining renewable energy to include nuclear and clean coal.

Such a redefinition would make it easier for FPL and other electric utilities to comply with a goal set by Gov. Charlie Crist of having 20 percent of all electrical power come from renewable energy by 2020.

Environmentalists are opposed to the redefinition, while FPL immediately expressed its support for the PSC staff recommendation.

Read the full Herald story online, here.