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Politics
Advance billing for TECO passed
By JENNIFER LIBERTO
Published June 13, 2007
TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Charlie Crist on Tuesday signed a bill that would allow Tampa Electric Co. to start billing customers in advance of building a special kind of coal plant that emits far fewer pollutants than regular coal plants. The process is called "coal gasification, " and it uses coal to create a clean-burning gas, siphoning off harmful carbon emissions so they don't enter the atmosphere. The bill allows the utility to pass on costs for design, licensing, construction and interest for the $1.5-billion plant once building begins, likely in 2009. TECO already operates a coal-gasification plant in Polk County; this would be its second, about 60 miles from Tampa. "Coal is an abundant resource in the United States offering advantages for both energy independence and affordability, " Crist wrote in his bill-signing letter to Secretary of State Kurt Browning. "However, if we are to continue including coal as a part of a diverse fuel mix in Florida, we must do so only in an environmentally responsible way." The coal-gasification plant, which costs up to 15 percent more than a conventional coal plant, is a massive financial undertaking for the company, its president has said. Early cost recovery reduces the company's risk.
[Last modified June 13, 2007, 00:22:13]
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by Naomi
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06/20/07 11:33 AM
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Teco is a business making money from the consumer, why should we pay to build a plant for them to make moreoff of us.
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by JAMES
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06/14/07 04:28 AM
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THAY MAKE MONEY FROM US. MILL,S. BUT WE STILL MUST PAY TO BUILD THE PLANT TO.JUST NOT RIGHT. USE SOME OF THE MONEY THAY MAKE OFF US.
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