Florida opens study of advanced nuclear generation viability

Florida utility regulators are taking the first steps to fulfill a legislative obligation to explore the viability of advanced nuclear, including nuclear generation for the state's military installations.

The Florida Public Service Commission scheduled a Sept. 5 workshop to begin the study directed by the sweeping House Bill 1645, which altered state energy policy by removing language about emissions reductions while promoting and protecting gas generation and seeking to stop offshore wind development. That bill, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law in May, also included a measure ordering the nuclear study and required that a report be submitted to government and legislative leaders by April 1, 2025.

The legislation directs the commission to study and evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of using advanced nuclear technologies, including small modular reactors (SMRs), to meet state power demand. The commission must also research means to encourage and foster the construction and use of such technologies, including at military installations in the state in partnership with public utilities.

Florida is the second-largest producer of electricity in the US after Texas. Nuclear supplied about 12% of the state's total electricity net generation in 2022, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Natural gas comprised about 74%, and renewables and coal provided the remainder.

Florida's two nuclear power stations are operated by NextEra Energy Inc. subsidiary Florida Power & Light Co. The 1,747-MW Turkey Point station entered service in 1972, and the first unit of the 1,990-MW St. Lucie plant entered service in 1976. Duke Energy Corp. subsidiary Duke Energy Florida LLC retired and began decommissioning its Crystal River Nuclear plant in 2013.

NextEra President, CEO and Chair John Ketchum said in June that datacenter customers had approached the Florida-headquartered power provider interested in its Duane Arnold Energy Center site in Iowa. The 679.5-MW nuclear plant, which began operating in 1975, was shut down in 2020 after it was damaged in a derecho a few months before its planned retirement. The nuclear plant is now being decommissioned, and NextEra is adding solar and battery storage resources to the site.

While Ketchum said he would consider repowering Duane Arnold "if it could be done safely and on budget," he has also expressed skepticism that new nuclear is best suited to meet growing demand needs over commercially available renewables. In April, Ketchum described nuclear as less flexible and much slower to market and said advanced technologies such as SMRs are "still a decade to 15 years away."

"I'm a real skeptic on SMRs really coming into the picture to satisfy datacenter demand anytime in the near future," Ketchum said April 23.

Neither NextEra nor Duke and its subsidiaries, which are the largest power providers in Florida, have included nuclear in immediate or near-term resource planning for the state. Duke has included advanced nuclear — specifically SMRs — in its resource plans for the Carolinas, calling for 600 MW by 2035.

Florida has passed legislation since 2006 to support nuclear energy in the state, according to a January report from the Nuclear Energy Institute, including measures allowing utilities to petition the commission for financing orders authorizing the issuance of nuclear asset recovery bonds; amending prior statutes for certain cost recovery related to siting, design, licensing and construction of nuclear plants; permitting cost recovery for transmission lines for new nuclear plants; and supporting construction of new nuclear plants by exempting them from mandatory competitive bidding processes and establishing alternative cost recovery mechanisms.

Southern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power Co. recently completed a two-unit expansion of its Alvin W. Vogtle Nuclear Plant, which began nearly two decades ago. This undertaking was plagued by cost overruns and schedule delays but emerged as the first new utility-scale nuclear reactors in the US in decades.

Rising US power demand and Vogtle's completion are raising the profile of nuclear as a carbon-free answer to US energy needs, and many utilities are weighing capacity increases at existing plants or even repowerings.