St. Petersburg, Florida – Over 50 people held a rally at the Progress Energy Building to protest the proposed charges to ratepayers for new nuclear power generation this past Saturday, October 1. The protests called on the Public Service Commission (PSC) to reject the utility’s current request to charge customers up-front for new reactor costs, stop supporting the dying and polluting nuclear industry, and instead to support solar in the Sunshine State. The PSC is currently considering millions of dollars in bill increases for the proposed new nuclear reactors at Progress Energy’s proposed Levy County site and FPL’s Turkey Point nuclear plant, a disastrous move that would jeopardize the safety of the state and put a financial burden on Florida ratepayers.
At the rally, Florida youth from the Florida Youth Environmental Sustainability Coalition (FL YES) and concerned citizens from the Coalition Against Nukes (C.A.N.) participated in a “People’s Hearing” to demand that the Public Service Commission work for people, not polluters, and stop nuclear cost recovery. Because the PSC did not allow for public comment on this very public issue during hearings held in August, Floridians chose to take it into their own hands, and provided a space for the public to comment on their concerns with nuclear cost recovery.
