Bill Text: FL S1586 | 2018 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Energy Grid
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Failed) 2018-03-10 - Died in Regulated Industries [S1586 Detail]
Download: Florida-2018-S1586-Comm_Sub.html
Florida Senate - 2018 CS for SB 1586
By the Committee on Communications, Energy, and Public
Utilities; and Senator Simmons
579-02435-18 20181586c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the energy grid; creating s.
3 366.96, F.S.; providing legislative intent; defining
4 the term “energy grid”; requiring the Public Service
5 Commission to hold public hearings to determine a
6 disaster preparation and energy grid improvement plan
7 for each public utility; specifying the maximum
8 implementation period for such plans; requiring the
9 commission to allow such plans to be modified at
10 certain intervals; specifying considerations for
11 developing such plans; requiring the commission to
12 issue orders for the public utilities to implement
13 their plans; authorizing the commission to grant a
14 single extension of plan deadlines every 6 years under
15 certain circumstances; requiring the commission to
16 submit a report to the Legislature on specified dates;
17 specifying report requirements; requiring the
18 commission to adopt certain rules and issue certain
19 orders; providing an effective date.
20
21 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
22
23 Section 1. Section 366.96, Florida Statutes, is created to
24 read:
25 366.96 Public utility disaster hardening.—
26 (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that the
27 commission, in its storm hardening proceedings, increase its
28 focus on the resiliency of the energy grid to reduce the
29 percentage of customers without electricity during and after a
30 storm or other natural disaster and to reduce the time necessary
31 for the affected public utility to fully restore electric
32 service during such outages. Furthermore, it is the intent of
33 the Legislature that such reductions be accomplished at a cost
34 that is fair and reasonable for the state’s public utility
35 customers.
36 (2) As used in this section, the term “energy grid” means a
37 public utility’s interconnected generation, transmission, and
38 distribution infrastructure.
39 (3) The commission shall hold public hearings, including
40 such customer hearings in each public utility’s service
41 territory as appropriate, to determine a disaster preparation
42 and energy grid improvement plan for each public utility,
43 including all necessary improvements and the time within which
44 the public utility must complete each improvement. The plan
45 implementation period may be up to 20 years, and the commission
46 must allow for the plan to be modified at least every 3 years.
47 (4) In developing the disaster preparation and energy grid
48 improvement plan, the commission must consider all of the
49 following:
50 (a) The available projections for the number and severity
51 of storms in the future and for changes in sea level, storm
52 surge, and flooding;
53 (b) The projected costs and benefits of each plan;
54 (c) Any alternatives to the traditional energy grid which
55 provide strengthening or resiliency benefits to the energy grid,
56 including smart grids, distributed generation, and microgrids;
57 and
58 (d) The individual circumstances and characteristics of
59 each public utility, including:
60 1. The public utility’s energy grid, taking into account
61 its history of outages, restorations, the time necessary to
62 complete each restoration, and the factors involved in
63 restoration and timing of completion;
64 2. The utility’s ratepayer base;
65 3. The utility’s existing cost recovery structure and
66 rates;
67 4. Any potential alternatives to the traditional energy
68 grid;
69 5. Available energy grid improvements for the utility,
70 including the benefits and costs of such improvements and the
71 impact of such improvements on rates; and
72 6. A reasonable period for the utility to implement the
73 plan.
74 (5) Upon completion of the development of a disaster
75 preparation and energy grid improvement plan for each public
76 utility, the commission must issue an order requiring the public
77 utility to implement the plan.
78 (6) During any 6-year period, a public utility may apply to
79 the commission for a single extension for one or more plan
80 deadlines specified in the order. The commission may grant the
81 extension if the public utility provides the commission with
82 sufficient evidence that an extension is in the best interest of
83 the utility’s ratepayers.
84 (7)(a) On or before February 1, 2019, and for every 3 years
85 thereafter, the commission shall submit a report to the
86 President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
87 Representatives which describes, for each public utility, the
88 commission’s determination and order for that public utility
89 regarding its plan for energy grid improvement, the timetable
90 for completion of the plan, and the projected costs and benefits
91 of the plan. In the February 1, 2022, report, and in each report
92 thereafter, the commission shall report on the performance of
93 the energy grid improvements for each storm or other natural
94 disaster that have occurred since the previous report.
95 (b) The commission shall adopt rules and issue orders
96 necessary to implement this section.
97 Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.
