Duke seeks OK for nuclear financing plan

BY THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

Moving forward under a new law that it says will help save customers hundreds of millions of dollars, Duke Energy Florida has requested state approval of a financing plan for costs associated with the shuttered Crystal River nuclear-power plant. The Legislature and Gov. Rick Scott approved a law this year aimed at allowing Duke to use a bonding process known as "securitization" to finance an estimated $1.3 billion in costs. Duke on Monday filed more than 500 pages of documents with the state Public Service Commission seeking to move forward with the process. The utility contends that using securitization ultimately will save customers about $790 million over two decades, compared to a more-traditional method of recovering costs. It said in the documents that a residential customer who uses 1,000 kilowatt hours a month would be required to pay $3.17 under the securitization proposal, compared with $5.01 a month under a more-traditional financing method. Duke decided in 2013 to permanently shut down the Crystal River plant because of damage that involved cracks to a containment building. The plant had not generated power since 2009.