Pointing to potentially higher electric rates, the Florida Public Service Commission is expected this month to raise concerns with the federal government about new air-pollution standards.
Utilities such as Florida Power & Light and Progress Energy Florida and the states municipal electric industry also are wary of the proposed standards, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to finalize in November.
The proposed standards, released in March, target coal- and oil-fired power plants and are designed to curb emissions of mercury and other pollutants that cause human health problems.
Public Service Commission members last week reviewed drafts of documents that the agency will send to the EPA and members of Congress. The documents cited utility estimates that to comply with the standards could cost hundreds of millions of dollars -- a cost that would be passed on to utility customers.
The FPSC is concerned about the impact of these substantial compliance costs on Floridas consumers, particularly in this time of economic distress and high unemployment, one of the draft documents said.
But the EPA and other supporters say the standards have been years in the making and will boost public health. Mercury, for example, gets into fish and other types of food and can cause neurological damage if eaten.
Josh Galperin, a policy analyst and research attorney for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said utilities should have already started preparing for the standards. He said many have made technological upgrades that will help coal-fired plants comply.
The utilities are acting as if were starting from scratch, Galperin said.
The EPA is moving forward with the proposed standards at the same time it is taking other steps to reduce pollution from power plants. For instance, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson on Thursday announced finalizing a rule aimed at reducing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, which are substances that can travel long distances and cause problems such as smog.
The proposed mercury-reduction standards stem, in part, from a 2000 EPA decision that dealt with the regulation of hazardous pollutants from power plants. The EPAs stance changed in 2005, but a court case led to an agreement that the standards would be finalized by Nov. 16, 2011.
Along with mercury, the standards also would reduce other potentially dangerous pollutants such as arsenic, chromium and nickel, according to the EPA. Utilities would have three years to make upgrades to comply with the new standards, though they could receive a fourth year in at least some circumstances.
A large part of the PSCs argument is that federal officials should allow a longer period of time and more flexibility for utilities to comply with the standards. Mayco Villafana, a Florida Power & Light spokesman, said his company supports that stance.
It allows us adequate time to look at all the options and choose the most-efficient, least-cost compliance options, Villafana said.
Barry Moline, executive director of the Florida Municipal Electric Association, said his group wants to reduce toxic air emissions, but he also described the situation as a balancing act that involves looking at the available technology and potential costs. Moline said the municipal-electric group plans to submit its concerns to the EPA.
Moline and other industry officials also said many power plants have been upgraded in recent years to reduce emissions.
As an example, Tim Leljedal, a spokesman for Progress Energy Florida, said his company has installed pollution control devices known as scrubbers at its Crystal River coal plant. Also, it converted a St. Petersburg plant from burning oil to cleaner natural gas.
In a news release last month, Jackson, the EPA administrator, acknowledged that many coal plants have received upgrades. But she also stressed that the more stringent standards will lead to fewer deaths and reduce other health problems, such as childhood asthma and bronchitis.
"These standards are critically important to the health of the American people and will leverage technology already in use at over half of the nations coal power plants to slash emissions of mercury and other hazardous pollutants, Jackson said.
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