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Changing the rules for future power lines

By Howard Troxler
Published February 19, 2008

Maybe we just need to get it over with and pass a state law that says:

"The electric companies of Florida can do whatever they want. We need the juice."

That would be a lot more efficient than this year-by-year chipping away.

Each year, our friends, the electric companies, get the Legislature to change another little piece of state law.

First, with nuclear plants on the horizon, we passed a law letting utilities bill customers for more of the cost up front.

Then the companies came back and said, "Hey, we need to do that for 'clean' coal plants, too." Presto, change-o!

This year's version, Senate Bill 1506, makes it easier for companies to run new lines by making it:

-Easier to run lines through public lands.

-Faster to condemn private land.

-Harder for citizens and local governments to oppose them because of tighter deadlines and tougher rules.

Instead of a review by the elected state Cabinet, approval to use state lands could be granted routinely by the Department of Environmental Protection, or the state's non-elected water management districts.

And the state could transfer title of public lands to the utilities outright, if they agreed to swap for "equivalent" land of "economic, ecological or recreational value."

Hmmmmm.

As my colleague Asjylyn Loder reported recently, a main beneficiary of this law is Progress Energy Florida of St. Petersburg. The company is looking at 200 miles of new lines through 10 counties at a cost of $2-billion or so.

But let's not forget that the state's biggest electric company, Florida Power & Light of Miami, donated an even $1-million to the governor's campaign in favor of the Amendment 1 property-tax cut.

(I have a fantasy in which Gov. Charlie Crist takes the electric company's money but vetoes the bill anyway. But I also have a fantasy about retiring after writing a bestselling novel.)

Make no mistake - these changes would make it easier and cheaper to build transmission lines. That would save money for customers, who are paying in the end anyway.

But there are tradeoffs, and sometimes those tradeoffs aren't measured in dollars. All public lands are not equal.

We had another story in the paper the other day by my colleague Theresa Blackwell, pointing out that one of the possible routes for lines is through the Brooker Creek Preserve in northeastern Pinellas County.

The key word there is "possible." It is too early to jump in front of the bulldozers. The company might end up not using Brooker Creek at all, or using the footprint of an existing line along the preserve's eastern edge.

Still, a consultant working for Progress Energy did not ease anybody's concerns by telling the county: "Pretend you are sitting on Santa's lap and can ask for anything." (I am guessing that the company has already urged its consultant to adopt a slightly more tactful approach.)

Look, we need electricity. Which means we need big honkin' transmission lines. And sooner or later the state has to say "yes" to putting them somewhere.

I just want the Legislature to hold a real debate on whether this law goes too far, stacking the process in the companies' favor, instead of passing it automatically. But then, I also want to win the lottery.

[Last modified February 19, 2008, 00:03:07]