The Florida Public Service Commission has voted to postpone a decision on whether Duke Energy Florida can recover its investment in the abandoned Crystal River nuclear power plant project. The Public Service Commission’s decision gives Duke Energy the authority to recover costs for upgrades on the Tampa-area plant…for now. The plant shut down several years ago for repairs, but Duke officials eventually decided not to reopen it. Still, Crystal River customers will be charged an extra 89 cents per kilowatt hour starting in January. The PSC takes the issue up again in October during a settlement hearing on an agreement between the power company and consumer advocates. If the commission finds in favor of Duke, the hearing will also determine how much of its investment Duke may recover.
“The commission voted to defer the rate hearing that was previously scheduled for this week because we filed an amended settlement agreement last week with the commission, which we believe answers many of the nuclear cost recovery charges for our customers,” said Sterling Ivey, spokesman for Duke Energy.
Duke also recently cancelled plans to build a nuclear power plant in Levy County.
