Florida’s transition to more efficient and clean energy production hit a speed bump in January when Juno Beach, Fla.-based FPL Group said it would immediately halt work on approved nuclear and modernization projects that collectively totaled as much as $20 billion. The sudden move came on the heels of the state Public Service Commission rejecting FPL’s requests for rate hikes totaling more than $1 billion. FPL Group Chairman and CEO Lew Hay cited the decision as evidence of a deteriorating regulatory climate in Florida that “is increasingly hostile to investment.”
The largest projects are two additional nuclear units at the utility’s existing Turkey Point complex in Miami. The work, granted PSC approval in 2008, would add 2,200 megawatts of nuclear-generating capacity. FPL estimated the cost of the project at between $12 billion and $18 billion.