Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
FPL seeks waiver on bids for plant
Utility aims to expedite Dania project
Florida Power & Light Co. is hoping state utility regulators will help expedite development of a new $888 million clean energy plant in Dania Beach by waiving a requirement that the company seek competing bids for the project.
Staff reviewers at the Florida Public Service Commission last week recommended approval of the waiver, and the commission is scheduled to consider it on July 13.
The new plant, to be called the Dania Beach Clean Energy Center, is planned on the site of FPL’s very first power plant between State Road 7 and Southwest 30th Avenue. Generating capacity would be improved from 920 megawatts to 1,200 megawatts while emissions of carbon monoxide and particulates would be cut by 70 percent, according to FPL.
The utility wants to shut down the existing plant in 2018 and bring the new plant into operation in June 2022. The bid solicitation process, if required, could set the timetable back by at least a few months, FPL spokesman Dave McDermitt said Wednesday.
A review submitted with the staff’s recommendation last week said the project met requirements for a waiver because FPL is proposing to reuse an existing plant site to build a “newer, larger, and more efficient unit.”
The proposed reuse of an existing plant site, the review said, “provides numerous economic and qualitative benefits that would be unmatched by any potential [bidder].”
Among the benefits: the current