FPL seeks OK for Lauderdale plant

It asks the PSC to affirm that a new, modernized facility is necessary.

Florida Power & Light wants to build another natural gas-fired plant, but first the Florida Public Service Commission has to agree that the proposed Dania Beach Clean Energy Center Unit 7 is needed.

On Friday, Juno Beach-based FPL filed a formal petition asking the PSC to affirmatively determine that a modernized $888 million 1,163 megawatt facility on the site of FPL’s existing Lauderdale plant is a necessity and the least expensive way to provide more power.

The Lauderdale plant has been upgraded or re-powered three times since its construction in 1925 as FPL’s first power plant. The older, less efficient plant that runs on natural gas and oil occupies 392 acres within Dania Beach and Hollywood city limits.

In the filing, FPL asserts the plant it plans to put into service by June 1, 2022 will save customers $337 million over its projected operating life of 40 years. That figure is net savings after accounting for the cost of construction, FPL spokesman Dave McDermitt said.

A new Dania Beach plant is also projected to be $1.288 billion less expensive than building the same amount of solar power capacity in the South Florida region.

In July, the PSC unanimously approved the company’s request that it not be required to issue a request for proposals to determine whether the proposed replacement of the plant with a more efficient, larger natural gas-fired plant is the most cost-effective alternative.

The PSC staff recommended that the exemption be given for the plant to be built at the existing site, saying it will reduce costs for customers. The granting of the exemption did not relieve FPL of a requirement to prove there’s a need for the plant.

The plant runs on natural gas, but once modernized, it will produce more power using less gas.

Other benefits FPL says the plant will bring include:

■ $297 million in new tax revenue to local governments and school districts over the project’s life.

■ An estimated 650 jobs at its peak during construction.

■ A 95 percent reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions.

■ Significant reductions in carbon dioxide and other air emissions.

FPL projects that solar power will outpace coal and oil combined as a percentage of its energy mix by 2020. Its 2016 energy mix consisted of approximately 70 percent natural gas, 23 percent nuclear, and roughly 5 percent coal and oil combined.

By 2023, FPL estimates solar will reach 4 percent of its generation capacity. It expects oil and coal to be reduced to less than 1 percent combined in the next few years.