Progress Energy on Thursday reported a decline in revenue during the first quarter of 2012 compared to the same period a year earlier, largely attributed to mild weather. The utility's net income for the first quarter totaled $150 million or 51 cents a share compared to $184 million or 62 cents a share in 2011. "The extremely mild weather through the first quarter of 2012 — although certainly a welcome respite for our customers — resulted in significantly lower energy sales in the Carolinas," said Chairman, President and CEO Bill Johnson.Progress has scheduled a conference call with the investment community today to discuss its earnings report. Company officials also are likely to update investors about plans for the broken Crystal River nuclear plant, the proposed ... Continue reading →

Progress Energy announced Tuesday that the cost for its proposed Levy County nuclear plant could reach a new high of $24 billion with a new start date of 2024.The new estimate, included among documents filed with the state Public Service Commission for its annual nuclear cost recovery, would raise the cost of the project almost $2 billion and delay when it comes online from 2021 to 2024 — almost a decade after its original projected date of 2016.In addition to the proposed changes for the Levy project, Progress also wants to increase the amount it is collecting from Florida customers through the so-called nuclear advance fee or "nuclear cost recovery clause."Progress' proposal would increase the amount customers pay from the current $3.05 per 1,000 kilowatt ... Continue reading →

CLEARWATER — Jerry Meekins will die soon of esophageal cancer, and he can't fly because of his compromised immune system. But Spirit Airlines considers his condition insufficiently grave to grant him a refund for a flight to Atlantic City next month. But if he actually dies before his flight, Spirit would be happy to give him some money back. Or he can get a credit for another ticket. That, he points out, won't do him any good. "What are they going to do?" he asked. "Fly my casket up to Atlantic City?" Meekins, 76, bought the ticket last month. His daughter is having surgery in May, and he wants to be there to take her home from the hospital and care for her while she ... Continue reading →

Authors of a new report on the future of U. S. electricity generation highlight Progress Energy's Levy County nuclear plant as "the poster child" of failing, expensive power projects. In a conference call Thursday to discuss the 60 page report, the authors called Levy's $22 billion price tag "unprecedented" for a nuclear plant. And the $1 billion Progress customers are paying for a plant that might never get built a "sad experience" in power plant financing. "It is, again, the poster child for what can happen if you don't do it right on the front end," said Ron Binz, co-author of Practicing Risk-Aware Electricity Regulation: What Every State Regulator Needs to Know and a former chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.Denise Furey, another co-author ... Continue reading →

Florida's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit senior organization joined a lawsuit Thursday to overturn a state law that requires utility customers to pay in advance for new nuclear plants. In opposing the advance nuclear fee, the Florida AARP said many of its members already face difficulty meeting rising utility costs on their low and fixed incomes. To add fees for proposed nuclear plants that might never get built, the organization said, is an undue burden."During this period of economic hardship, the rising cost to provide current electric utility service is severe enough to raise alarm," the AARP stated in a brief to the Florida Supreme Court.The AARP submitted the brief in support of a lawsuit filed by the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, an advocate for energy ... Continue reading →

Building a nuclear plant is not the cheapest way to keep the lights on.Not with such low natural gas prices. Not with fizzling political drive for carbon taxes. And not with soaring construction costs. Don't believe it? Some of the main players in the nuclear industry are already in retreat."We can't make the numbers work," said the chief nuclear officer for Exelon, the country's largest operator of nuclear plants. Likewise, NRG Energy's CEO said "it's hard to see" a path toward more nuclear production. Progress Energy still sees a way, even with the tab for its Levy County project hitting $22.4 billion, an eye-popping number in an industry known for eye-popping numbers.The company maintains that nuclear is "the best … option," not necessarily the cheapest ... Continue reading →

When it came time to vote on a bill that would allow utilities to charge customers in advance to build nuclear plants, everyone said, "yes" — but one.Susan Bucher, a West Palm Beach Democrat, stood alone.It wasn't an unfamiliar position for the now supervisor of elections for Palm Beach County. In her eight years in the state House of Representatives, Bucher had become an irritant to the Tallahassee establishment. She questioned other legislators about their bills and all too often found they didn't know much about what the legislation would do. "I was probably the most hated legislator in the building," says the 53-year-old Bucher. In 2006, the Senate voted 39-0 and the House 119-1 on an energy bill that included a provision to change ... Continue reading →

A state Cabinet member says utilities should refund any money they collected in advance from customers for proposed nuclear plants if the projects no longer make economic sense or will be abandoned.Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater said utilities should not be allowed to spend customers' money unchecked. "Programs must be structured so companies are held accountable and are incentivized to mitigate financial losses," Atwater said through a spokeswoman. "If the projects are no longer viable or pursued, the dollars collected should be returned back to consumers." Atwater's comments follow a report Sunday in the Tampa Bay Times that detailed how Progress Energy profits from the collection of a fee charged to customers to plan and develop a $22.4 billion nuclear power plant in Levy County ... Continue reading →