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         366.96Public 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.