Florida Supreme Court blasts Florida Power & Light’s fracking charge, State regulators exceeded their authority allowing the utility, a company, to charge customers for investment in fracing, transferring risk from shareholders to customers

Florida Supreme Court rejects FPL attempt to have customers pay for risky investment by Mary Ellen Klas, Mary Ellen Klas, May 19, 2016, Tampa Bay Times/Herald Tallahassee

In a rebuke to Florida Power & Light, the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that state regulators exceeded their authority when they allowed the company to charge customers for its speculative investment into an Oklahoma-based fracking company

In June of last year, the Public Service Commission rejected its staff recommendation and unanimously approved guidelines that gave FPL the right to charge its customers up to $750 million a year for speculative natural gas fracking activities without oversight from regulators for the next five years.

Image from FrackingCanada Fracking Calgary

In a 6-1 opinion, written by Justice Ricky Polston, the court concluded that the PSC did not have statutory authority to authorize the charge and called its decision “overreach.” [Like AER judging Ernst a criminal without a trial or hearing, and banishing her from energy regulation?]

“Treating these activities as a hedge requires FPL’s end-user consumers to guarantee the capital investment and operations of a speculative oil and gas venture without the Florida Legislature’s authority,” Polston wrote. Justice Charles Canady dissented with an opinion, arguing that the PSC did have the authority to allow the costs of the investment to be recovered under the FPL fuel clause.

Here’s the ruling: Download SCOFLA Woodford case

The proposal, called the Woodford Gas Reserves Project, is a joint venture between FPL with Oklahoma-based PetroQuest Energy, Inc. which develops and operates the natural-gas wells. FPL hoped to profit off the investment and claimed that it would provide a long-term hedge against volatile fuel costs and should therefore be charged to customers under its fuel cost-recovery clause.

But the court disagreed and ruled that the PSC’s ability to allow FPL to recover costs “is permissible only for costs arising from the ‘generation, transmission, or distribution’ of electricity’,” while “the exploration, drilling, and production of fuel falls outside the purview of an electric utility as defined by the Legislature.”

“It is undisputed that FPL is an electric utility,” Polston wrote. “It is also undisputed that the PSC’s ratemaking authority encompasses the authority to examine fuel cost expenditures and approve cost recovery to compensate for utilities’ fuel expenses through the fuel clause…However, the PSC does not have the statutory authority to approve cost recovery for FPL’s investment in the Woodford Project.”

The PSC’s ruling was opposed by the Office of Public Counsel, which represents the public before the PSC, the Florida Retail Federation, and the state’s largest power users, because it gave FPL unprecedented permission to use ratepayer dollars to finance an energy exploration and production business. [How fast would it have bankrupted FPL, making ordinary citizens lose their unwilling risky investment?] According to an analysis by the PSC’s staff, FPL was the first utility in the nation to be allowed to use ratepayer money for such an “non-regulated risk.” [To set precedent, allowing regulators across North America to copy frac?]

The opponents challenged the case before the state Supreme Court, arguing the PSC inappropriately allowed FPL to transfer the risk of the investment from its shareholders to customers.

FPL, a regulated monopoly and Florida’s largest utility, entered into the $191 million joint venture with PetroQuest Energy of Oklahoma to explore for natural gas, including using a process known as hydraulic fracking. … FPL used the investment as a guaranteed new source of revenue that allowed it to increase its rate base in the face of increasing competition from solar and other alternative energy sources. As an investor-owned utility, the PSC allows FPL to earn a guaranteed profit — return on investment — of 10.25 percent of its rate base. By allowing the company to increase that by $750 million a year, FPL and its parent company, NextEra, were guaranteed higher profits. 

The court called out that strategy as an inappropriate use of the fuel cost-recovery clause which is intended to be used to hedge against price swings.

“Permitting advance recovery of FPL’s investment in the Woodford Project’s exploration and production of natural gas will not pay for the costs of actual fuel,” Polston wrote. “It will provide recovery, instead, for investment, operation, and maintenance and operation of assets that will provide access to an unknown quantity of fuel in the future.”

The court said that because it “is impossible to know what the costs of the natural gas will be until it is actually produced. There is more uncertainty from this investment rather than less” and therefore the investment ” cannot be characterized as a physical hedge.”

Polston said that the Woodford Project “is a guaranteed capital investment for FPL; it is not a hedge to stabilize fuel costs.”

Polston added that while the speculative capital investments in gas exploration and production by an electric utility “may be a good idea,” whether it is in the public interest “is a policy determination that must be made by the Legislature.”

Last year, the PSC staff drew a similar conclusion, which the PSC rejected, saying the project was untested, a risky investment in a volatile energy market, and had the potential to benefit FPL’s shareholders more than its customers.

Canady, however, disagreed, scolding the court’s majority for overturning the PSC.

“…the majority is merely substituting its judgment for the PSC’s judgment and expressing disagreement with the PSC’s factual findings,” he wrote. “The testimony and exhibits presented at the evidentiary hearing provide competent, substantial evidence to support the PSC’s conclusion that the Woodford Project acts as a long-term physical hedge.” [Emphasis added]

Florida Supreme Court votes 6-1 against Florida Power & Light by Henry Curtis, May 19, 2016, Ililani Media

Florida Power & Light was the first electric utility in the nation to engage in all aspects of natural gas, from searching for it, to drilling operations, and shipping the gas to their generators.

Last June the Florida Public Service Commission rejected their staff analysis and voted to force Florida ratepayers to finance NextEra Energy subsidiary Florida Power & Light in their effort to engage in speculative fracking for natural gas in Oklahoma.

Today the Florida Supreme Court issued an opinion asserting that state regulators exceeded their authority.

Here’s the ruling. Excerpts are below.

The Woodford Project is a joint venture agreement between FPL and PetroQuest, a publically traded independent oil and natural gas company. 

Pursuant to the agreement, FPL would invest directly in PetroQuest’s shale gas reserves in the Woodford Shale region and in return receive the rights to a share of the physical gas produced. 

Citizens of the State of Florida, through the Office of Public Counsel, (Citizens), Florida Industrial Power Users Group (FIPUG), and Florida Retail Federation (FRF) participated as intervenors in the proceedings. 

Citizens and the Florida Industrial Power Users Group (FIPUG) moved to dismiss the Woodford Petition, alleging that the PSC lacked the authority to consider and approve the project. 

The PSC denied the motion, concluding that it had jurisdiction under its statutory authority to set rates for public utilities.

Appellants argue that the PSC lacks the authority to allow FPL to recover the capital investment and operations costs of its partnership in the Woodford gas reserves through the rates it charges consumers. 

We agree.

The Woodford Project’s exploration, drilling, and production of natural gas fuel in Oklahoma do not constitute generating, transmitting, or distributing electricity in Florida as the meaning of those terms are plainly understood. 

In other words, the exploration, drilling, and production of fuel falls outside the purview of an electric utility as defined by the Legislature.

Permitting advance recovery of FPL’s investment in the Woodford Project’s exploration and production of natural gas will not pay for the costs of actual fuel. 

It will provide recovery, instead, for investment, operation, and maintenance and operation of assets that will provide access to an unknown quantity of fuel in the future. 

It is impossible to know what the costs of the natural gas will be until it is actually produced. There is more uncertainty from this investment rather than less. Therefore, it cannot be characterized as a physical hedge.

Whether advance cost recovery of speculative capital investments in gas exploration and production by an electric utility is in the public interest is a policy determination that must be made by the Legislature.

FPL’s fracking charge on customer bills is blasted by Florida Supreme Court by Mary Ellen Klas, May 19, 2016, Miami Herald

The state’s high court said regulators ‘overreached’ when they allowed the utility to charge customers for a risky investment

Florida Power & Light became the first utility in the nation to charge customers for its speculative investment in fracking operations

FPL made a profit, but its customers lost money

In a rebuke to Florida Power & Light, the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that state regulators exceeded their authority when they allowed the company to charge customers for its speculative investment in an Oklahoma-based fracking company.

In June of last year, the Public Service Commission rejected its staff recommendation and unanimously approved guidelines that gave FPL the right to charge its customers up to $750 million a year for speculative natural-gas fracking activities without oversight from regulators for the next five years.

In a 6-1 opinion written by Justice Ricky Polston, the court concluded that the PSC did not have statutory authority to authorize the charge and called its decision “overreach.”

“Treating these activities as a hedge requires FPL’s end-user consumers to guarantee the capital investment and operations of a speculative oil and gas venture without the Florida Legislature’s authority,” Polston wrote. Justice Charles Canady dissented with an opinion, arguing that the PSC did have the authority to allow the costs of the investment to be recovered under the FPL fuel clause.

The proposal, called the Woodford Gas Reserves Project, is a joint venture between FPL and Oklahoma-based PetroQuest Energy Inc., which develops and operates the natural-gas wells. FPL has earned a profit off of the investment — about 11.3 percent — and claimed that it would provide a long-term hedge against volatile fuel costs and should therefore be charged to customers under its fuel cost-recovery clause.

But the court disagreed and ruled that the investment was a risk that should be charged to shareholders, not ratepayers. It said the PSC’s ability to allow FPL to recover costs “is permissible only for costs arising from the ‘generation, transmission or distribution’ of electricity,’ ” while “the exploration, drilling and production of fuel falls outside the purview of an electric utility as defined by the Legislature.”

“It is undisputed that FPL is an electric utility,” Polston wrote. “It is also undisputed that the PSC’s ratemaking authority encompasses the authority to examine fuel cost expenditures and approve cost recovery to compensate for utilities’ fuel expenses through the fuel clause. … However, the PSC does not have the statutory authority to approve cost recovery for FPL’s investment in the Woodford Project.”

FPL spokeswoman Sarah Gatewood said the company was disappointed by the ruling and it would have a “long-term negative impact on customers’ bills.”

The court’s ruling was hailed by the Office of Public Counsel — which represents the public before the PSC — and the Florida Retail Federation, and also the Florida Industrial Power Users Group, which opposed the PSC’s decision because it gave FPL unprecedented permission to use ratepayer dollars to finance an energy exploration and production business.

“This is a great victory for ratepayers and will prevent them from having to bear the cost of some very speculative risk,” said J.R. Kelly, the head of the Office of Public Counsel.

FPL, a regulated monopoly and Florida’s largest utility, entered into the $191 million joint venture with PetroQuest Energy of Oklahoma to explore for natural gas, including using a process known as hydraulic fracking. The process involves injecting large volumes of water, sand and chemicals at high pressures to release oil and natural gas from rock caverns deep underground.

FPL used the investment as a guaranteed new source of revenue that allowed it to increase its rate base in the face of increasing competition from solar and other alternative energy sources. As an investor-owned utility, the PSC allows FPL to earn a guaranteed profit — return on investment — of up to 11.5 percent of its rate base. By allowing the company to increase that by up to $500 million a year, FPL and its parent company, NextEra, were guaranteed higher profits.

The return on the investment for customers, however, was not as successful. During the hearing on its fuel costs last year, FPL revealed that the Woodford project had cost customers about $5.8 million and did not save fuel costs.

According to an analysis by the PSC’s staff, FPL was the first utility in the nation to be allowed to use ratepayer money for such a “non-regulated risk.”

The court called out that strategy as an inappropriate use of the fuel cost-recovery clause, which is intended to be used to hedge against price swings, not an investment tool for the company.

“Permitting advance recovery of FPL’s investment in the Woodford Project’s exploration and production of natural gas will not pay for the costs of actual fuel,” Polston wrote. “It will provide recovery, instead, for investment, operation, and maintenance and operation of assets that will provide access to an unknown quantity of fuel in the future.”

The court said it “is impossible to know what the costs of the natural gas will be until it is actually produced. There is more uncertainty from this investment rather than less,” and therefore the investment “cannot be characterized as a physical hedge.”

Polston said that the Woodford Project “is a guaranteed capital investment for FPL; it is not a hedge to stabilize fuel costs.”

Polston added that while the speculative capital investments in gas exploration and production by an electric utility “may be a good idea,” whether it is in the public interest “is a policy determination that must be made by the Legislature.”

Last year, the PSC staff members drew a similar conclusion, which the PSC rejected, saying that the project was untested, a risky investment in a volatile energy market, and had the potential to benefit FPL’s shareholders more than its customers.

Canady, however, disagreed, scolding the court’s majority for overturning the PSC.

“The majority is merely substituting its judgment for the PSC’s judgment and expressing disagreement with the PSC’s factual findings,” he wrote. “The testimony and exhibits presented at the evidentiary hearing provide competent, substantial evidence to support the PSC’s conclusion that the Woodford Project acts as a long-term physical hedge.”

Gatewood did not respond to a question about whether the company will ask the Legislature to change the law to allow them to charge customers for the fracking projects.

“At FPL, we are always looking for opportunities to improve the value we provide our customers and keep their electric bills low,’’ she said. “Our typical customer bill is the lowest in Florida and among the lowest in the nation, and that does not happen by accident – instead, it’s the direct result of our forward-thinking strategy and long-term investments like the Woodford project that help keep costs down for customers over the long term.”.

Kelly, the public counsel, said the next step will be “to go back and figure out how to undo the portion of the commission’s order that the court has now overruled,” he said. “It will certainly come in the form of some refund to the FPL ratepayers.”

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