Florida Power and Light's Proposed Power Lines

Dawn Shirreffs, Florida Program Coordinator for Clean Water Action and Clean Water Fund gives testimony at a South Florida Regional Planning Council sponsored meeting on power lines for the expansion of the nuclear facility at Turkey Point.

The Urban Environment League submitted our resolution on the power lines, recommending they be placed underground. As we said in a letter to Carolyn Dekle of the SFRPC:

The Urban Environment League’s Board is composed of knowledgeable people who have dedicated years of activism to our shared community. We have spent considerable time deliberating FPL’s plans. For reasons that are clear in the “WHEREAS” clauses, our resolution suggests that the proposed power lines be placed underground with a cost absorbed by all users (not just Miami-Dade residents), and that the county build its own underground transmission system to lease it back to FPL for a fee to cover capital and operational costs.

The SFRPC, at a previous meeting of their board, did NOT approve the power lines for FP&L saying more information was needed from the Corporation.

The UEL joined with others last night, including South Miami and Pinecrest, asking that the high tension lines be placed underground. The spokeswoman for FP&L, during her powerpoint, said the company would not do underground wiring. There was no responses from FP&L after the initial presentation.

Tropical Audubon Society is holding a meeting about the expansion at the Pinecrest Library, 5835 SW 111 Street, on September 24th at 6PM. If you have questions call TAS at (305) 667-7337.

Resolution on FPL Power Lines on US1

Proposed 80' tall power lines along US1, image courtesy of FPL.

TITLE
A Resolution of the Urban Environmental League in opposition to FP&L‘s proposal to utilize above ground transmission lines for power produced at the expanded Turkey Point Nuclear plant.

BODY
WHEREAS: FPL is currently expanding its nuclear generator facility located at Turkey Point in south Miami Dade County and,

WHEREAS: the people of Miami Dade County will assume any environmental risk for this expansion for future generations and,

WHEREAS: all the rate payers of FPL’s system are absorbing the construction cost of this plant currently in their monthly bills and,

WHEREAS: the increase in capacity from the plant expansion far exceeds the future needs of Miami Dade County and therefore will make available substantial power to be sold to FPL’s customers outside Miami Dade County and throughout the power grid of the entire United States and,

WHEREAS: FPL has taken the position that these transmission lines are only feasible above ground and located along US1 through the unincorporated area, the Village of Pinecrest, South Miami, Cutler Bay, Coral Gables and Palmetto Bay and,

WHEREAS: the cost of said line being placed below ground is alleged to be $18 million per mile which is a larger amount than the cost of above ground placement and,

WHEREAS: FPL has shown no credible proof of this cost differential and,

WHEREAS: FPL has stated that the required cost for the line to be placed below ground must be paid by either rate payers of Miami Dade County and/or the impacted municipalities regardless of the fact that the power transmitted will be sold through FPL’s entire system and outside that system, and,

WHEREAS: all the impacted communities have committed to make the areas along US1 livable public spaces and have adopted various plans and other actions to achieve this goal and the installation of above ground lines will be disastrous to these investments

Now, therefore it is resolved that,

1) the Urban Environmental League opposes the above ground lines on the basis of equity to the rate payers of Miami Dade County and requests the Public Service Commission and the Cabinet to address the equity issue and requests the true cost of underground to be borne by all the users of the power

2) requests the Miami Dade Board of County Commissioners with the impacted municipalities to join in opposition to the above ground transmission lines including litigation if necessary and,

3) requests the Board of County Commissioners to investigate the possibility of building its own underground transmission line and charging FPL a fee for its use which covers the capital and operational cost with a rate of return equal each year to the rate of return allowed to FPL by the Public Service Commission with any surplus revenues generated by the County Commission to be used for under grounding power lines throughout Miami Dade County.

Broward Sierra Club Asks that you Comment.

Florida, Everglades National Park, the first 'biological park' in our nation's history, is being threatened anew. And this time it's not lack of water, agricultural runoff, sewage, excessive motorized recreation or Burmese pythons on the loose.

Anxious to double the size of its Turkey Point nuclear plant on the shores of Biscayne Bay with two new nuclear reactors, Florida Power and Light (FPL) is attempting to make use of an old utility corridor it still owns inside the borders of the recently acquired East Everglades Expansion Area of Everglades National Park. The plan being put on the table is for FPL to swap out this corridor for one on the park's eastern edge. Three separate lines would cross approximately 7 miles of what is currently national park property on more than 300 towers. Two of the three lines would carry 500,000 volts along towers 150 feet tall, while the third would carry 230,000 volts along 90 foot towers.

Consequences for the park would be enormous. First of all, the towers would dominate the eastern horizon of the entire East Everglades Expansion Area - the heart of the Shark River Slough and the main source of water for Everglades National Park. They would be visible as far away as the popular Shark Valley Visitor Center and tram/bicycle path. But aside from creating a permanent industrialized viewscape for our beloved park, there are other consequences. Scientists are concerned about damage to vegetation and fragile wetland soils; hydrological changes due to the massive concrete pads that would have to be put in place in the floodplain to support the towers; the likely spread of invasive plant species due to both construction and maintenance activities; and effects (including collisions and electrocutions) on wading birds (already reduced by over 90 percent in south Florida since the 1930s) and migratory birds.

Submit your comments directly to the National Park Service at the following website.

Meetings Coming Up

MAY 28th 9:30 am - County Commission Meeting on Rock Mining permit. FP&L wants to Rock Mine in agriculture area near Biscayne National Park to raise the elevation for the proposed 2 new Nuclear Reactors. The meeting is May 28th at County Hall, Stephen P. Clarke Building.
JUNE 3rd 6 pm - Miami Circle Master Plan presentation at the Historical Museum of Southern Florida, 101 West Flagler.
JUNE 17th – The City of Miami Planning Advisory Board will see the Virginia Key Master Plan. City Hall.
JUNE 10TH 6 pm Coconut Grove Sailing Club Orchids and Onions Award Presentation