L.A. vs. The ISO

May 15, 2000

By Bruce Radford

FERC chairman Hoecker wants everyone to join his managed grid. But in California, public power will need some convincing.

First, the news.

On March 23, the St. Petersburg Times had reported that Florida Power had lobbied state legislators "to consider stopping out-of-state energy companies from building new power plants in Florida." Six days later, on March 29, the Palm Beach Post reported that state senator Buddy Dyer had offered an amendment to Florida's pending Senate Bill 2020 seeking to do just that.

But the state couldn't wait for a bill to become law.

On April 20, the Florida Supreme Court took matters into its own hands. In a case that would make a good candidate for a bar exam, the court said that a power producer from out of state can not prove "need" for a new plant in Florida unless that need comes from a regulated Florida utility that has a duty to serve a captive local customer base. (Tampa Elec. Co. v. Garcia, Nos. SC95444 et al.)

Now the talk concerns whether the Florida legislature can come up with an interim "fix" to undo the damage before the session closes at the end of this month.