Sierra Club Urges State to Reject New FPL Fracked Gas Power Plant
TALLAHASSEE, FL — Sierra Club has formally asked the state Public Service Commission to reject FPL's request to add a new fracked gas power plant in Dania Beach without doing the required analysis on whether the gas is actually needed.
FPL has pursued this new gas generation without any meaningful investigation of the market price of incremental additions of solar, storage, or demand-side resources—as exemplified by its buildout of an all-gas peaking generation fleet.
Sierra Club yesterday filed comments with the PSC, asking that commissioners either deny FPL's request to be exempt from the requirement to test the market for other non-gas options, such as solar, or put the request on hold until FPL files more information about how it will provide the missing information regarding other options, including current market prices.
By state law, the PSC must determine whether there is a need for new electricity generation in Florida, and whether or not other options would be the "most cost-effective alternative available."
Nearly 70 percent of FPL's electric generation relies on gas, while only about 1 percent comes from cheap, clean solar power. Diversification through cost-effective solar, storage, and demand-side resources would strike at the heart of the problem of gas price volatility and protect families and businesses from unpredictable price spikes.
In response to FPL's request, Sierra Club's Florida Staff Director Frank Jackalone released the following statement:
"FPL seems determined to lock Floridians into a reliance on expensive, dirty, climate disrupting fossil fuels. The PSC should not let FPL build out more costly fracked gas infrastructure without presenting a thorough public analysis on why they'd rather keep burning fracked gas than expand low-cost solar and other clean energy sources that would shield Florida's families from price spikes and protect our natural resources from harmful pollution."