With the Fourth of July in the rearview mirror, Florida Power & Light Co. has begun looking ahead to July 16, the day it stages a controlled explosive demolition of the Port Everglades Power Plant.
The state's largest rate-regulated utility has already begun to brief members of the Public Service Commission in anticipation of a quick approval.
The idea is to replace the old, polluting plant with a clean and efficient, natural-gas facility to be up and running in 2016.
FPL spokesperson Bill Orlove told Sunshine State News Friday that it will invest $1.2 billion to demolish and replace the plant, thereby putting out more electricity and reducing air pollution by more than 90 percent.
How much the new plant will affect rates is unclear, although the PSC generally has allowed the company to pass on the cost of new plants to ratepayers. In fact, this is the third FPL plant that is part of the company's strategy to modernize its power-generation system, Orlove said. The first was the plant at Cape Canaveral, commissioned for this year; the second, Riviera Beach, set to go on line in 2014.
Orlove reckons any increased cost to ratepayers will be migigated by the plant's efficiency -- it will use 35 percent less fuel with cheaper, all-American natural gas. "Since 2001 our plant replacements have saved customers $6 billion," he said.
"This project is just an all-around good-investment," Orlove concluded. "It helps us keep bills low, it's going to provide 650 local jobs at the height of construction, it's better for the environment and it boosts the economy."
Chief among those boosts, he said, is $20 million in tax revenue for local government and schools in the first year of operation.
The plant's four 350-foot, red and white smokestacks likely will be unlamented when they're gone. They have been a much-maligned part of the Broward skyline since the mid-1960s -- by far the biggest single source of air pollution after motor vehicles. And they've often drawn protests from area environmental groups.
George Cavros of the Broward Sierra Club told the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, "The community has been asking FPL to refurbish the plant for 10 years."
If the PSC gives its approval, it will be the largest demolition of its kind in Florida, though the plant represents the third of its kind to be exploded in three years.
Due to the plant's location near a busy transportation and commerce center, along with major highways, FPL will not host any public viewing events. However, the company is coordinating with local media to share this historic event on television and will provide updates on the company's Twitter (www.twitter.com/insideFPL) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FPLconnect) sites.
According to a press statement, customers can also watch the 6:45 a.m. demolition live at www.FPL.com/port. Extensive video footage from various angles around the plant, including those from within the blast zone and from the air, will be made available to the media and posted on www.FPL.com/port following the demolition.
"We appreciate all of our partners' cooperation and understanding as we make this a safe and exciting day in the history of our company and South Florida," said FPL President Eric Silagy in the statement.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423.
