Nuclear Energy Industry Commends Florida Legislature Cost Recovery Vote

WASHINGTON, May 3, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Florida Legislature voted yesterday to preserve the state's cost recovery law that allows electric utilities to recover costs approved by state regulators for major capital projects like power uprates and new nuclear energy facilities. Following is a statement from Alex Flint, the Nuclear Energy Institute's senior vice president of governmental affairs.

"The nuclear energy industry commends the Florida Senate and House of Representatives for approving legislation that preserves the 2006 law allowing the recovery of approved costs for the construction of a new power plant. The decision by the legislature reaffirms the state's wisdom in passing the law in the first place recognizing that nuclear energy should play an important role in the state's diversified energy future.

"Pay-as-you-go cost recovery is an effective mechanism for lowering the cost of large infrastructure projects. This concept is used in 10 states, including Georgia and South Carolina, where four new reactors are being built and are expected to begin producing electricity within the next five years.

"Florida's legislators did the right thing in allowing utilities to preserve the most effective option to finance new nuclear energy facilities if warranted by the state's utility regulators. Doing so gives the state the means to supply reliable, affordable, clean energy for future generations of Floridians."

The Nuclear Energy Institute is the nuclear energy industry's policy organization. This news release and additional information about nuclear energy are available at www.nei.org.