Florida Senate - 2018                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 1586
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì616036"Î616036                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  01/25/2018           .                                
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       The Committee on Communications, Energy, and Public Utilities
       (Simmons) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Section 366.96, Florida Statutes, is created to
    6  read:
    7         366.96Public utility disaster hardening.—
    8         (1)It is the intent of the Legislature that the
    9  commission, in its storm hardening proceedings, increase its
   10  focus on the resiliency of the energy grid to reduce the
   11  percentage of customers without electricity during and after a
   12  storm or other natural disaster and to reduce the time necessary
   13  for the affected public utility to fully restore electric
   14  service during such outages. Furthermore, it is the intent of
   15  the Legislature that such reductions be accomplished at a cost
   16  that is fair and reasonable for the state’s public utility
   17  customers.
   18         (2)As used in this section, the term “energy grid” means a
   19  public utility’s interconnected generation, transmission, and
   20  distribution infrastructure.
   21         (3)The commission shall hold public hearings, including
   22  such customer hearings in each public utility’s service
   23  territory as appropriate, to determine a disaster preparation
   24  and energy grid improvement plan for each public utility,
   25  including all necessary improvements and the time within which
   26  the public utility must complete each improvement. The plan
   27  implementation period may be up to 20 years, and the commission
   28  must allow for the plan to be modified at least every 3 years.
   29         (4)In developing the disaster preparation and energy grid
   30  improvement plan, the commission must consider all of the
   31  following:
   32         (a)The available projections for the number and severity
   33  of storms in the future and for changes in sea level, storm
   34  surge, and flooding;
   35         (b)The projected costs and benefits of each plan;
   36         (c)Any alternatives to the traditional energy grid which
   37  provide strengthening or resiliency benefits to the energy grid,
   38  including smart grids, distributed generation, and microgrids;
   39  and
   40         (d)The individual circumstances and characteristics of
   41  each public utility, including:
   42         1.The public utility’s energy grid, taking into account
   43  its history of outages, restorations, the time necessary to
   44  complete each restoration, and the factors involved in
   45  restoration and timing of completion;
   46         2.The utility’s ratepayer base;
   47         3.The utility’s existing cost recovery structure and
   48  rates;
   49         4.Any potential alternatives to the traditional energy
   50  grid;
   51         5.Available energy grid improvements for the utility,
   52  including the benefits and costs of such improvements and the
   53  impact of such improvements on rates; and
   54         6.A reasonable period for the utility to implement the
   55  plan.
   56         (5)Upon completion of the development of a disaster
   57  preparation and energy grid improvement plan for each public
   58  utility, the commission must issue an order requiring the public
   59  utility to implement the plan.
   60         (6)During any 6-year period, a public utility may apply to
   61  the commission for a single extension for one or more plan
   62  deadlines specified in the order. The commission may grant the
   63  extension if the public utility provides the commission with
   64  sufficient evidence that an extension is in the best interest of
   65  the utility’s ratepayers.
   66         (7)(a)On or before February 1, 2019, and for every 3 years
   67  thereafter, the commission shall submit a report to the
   68  President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
   69  Representatives which describes, for each public utility, the
   70  commission’s determination and order for that public utility
   71  regarding its plan for energy grid improvement, the timetable
   72  for completion of the plan, and the projected costs and benefits
   73  of the plan. In the February 1, 2022, report, and in each report
   74  thereafter, the commission shall report on the performance of
   75  the energy grid improvements for each storm or other natural
   76  disaster that have occurred since the previous report.
   77         (b)The commission shall adopt rules and issue orders
   78  necessary to implement this section.
   79         Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.
   80  
   81  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   82  And the title is amended as follows:
   83         Delete everything before the enacting clause
   84  and insert:
   85                        A bill to be entitled                      
   86         An act relating to the energy grid; creating s.
   87         366.96, F.S.; providing legislative intent; defining
   88         the term “energy grid”; requiring the Public Service
   89         Commission to hold public hearings to determine a
   90         disaster preparation and energy grid improvement plan
   91         for each public utility; specifying the maximum
   92         implementation period for such plans; requiring the
   93         commission to allow such plans to be modified at
   94         certain intervals; specifying considerations for
   95         developing such plans; requiring the commission to
   96         issue orders for the public utilities to implement
   97         their plans; authorizing the commission to grant a
   98         single extension of plan deadlines every 6 years under
   99         certain circumstances; requiring the commission to
  100         submit a report to the Legislature on specified dates;
  101         specifying report requirements; requiring the
  102         commission to adopt certain rules and issue certain
  103         orders; providing an effective date.