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News
Releases
Taylor Energy Center Proves More Economical Than Power Purchase
Alternatives
May 19, 2006 - Plans for the Taylor Energy Center will move
forward since power purchase proposals considered as an alternative
to the plant proved significantly more expensive.
Mike
Lawson, project manager for the Taylor Energy Center, said, "The
objective of our project is to provide reliable and cost-effective
electricity for consumers in an environmentally responsible
way. The results of this market comparison show that our
project is still the best option for meeting both the financial
and environmental stewardship goals set by the owners."
The four utility owners of the Taylor Energy Center solicited
power purchase proposals last December as a potential alternative
to building the proposed coal power plant in Taylor County.
Requesting proposals to purchase power-as an alternative
to building a new power plant-is part of the normal process
prescribed by Florida's Power Plant Siting Act to determine
the most economical option for providing needed electricity.
The request for proposals was sent to more than 40 potential
bidders and published in seven major newspapers around the
country. Seven potential bidders attended the mandatory pre-bid
conference and two bidders, Walton Properties and Southern
Power Company (Southern), submitted notices of intent to
participate in the process. Southern submitted two proposals.
Southern's proposals included a 797 Megawatt facility using
Supercritical Pulverized Coal technology at a plant that
would be located at the Taylor Energy Center's proposed site.
This is the same technology, fuel and location proposed by
the Taylor Energy Center. The second proposal was to provide
784 Megawatts using a natural gas-fired, combined cycle plant
located in St. Lucie County, Fla. Both proposals are for
a 20-year term, beginning June 1, 2012.
The proposals were reviewed for compliance with minimum
requirements and were evaluated based on average cost per
megawatt hour. The review concluded that the two proposals
were significantly more costly than the Taylor Energy Center's
own sealed cost estimate submitted simultaneous with the
proposal deadline.
The coal proposal ranges from 15 percent to 35 percent more
expensive than the Taylor Energy Center over a range of evaluation
scenarios and the gas-fired combined cycle proposal ranges
from 31 percent to 53 percent more expensive.
Based on the evaluation, the utilities involved in the Taylor
Energy Center have notified Southern that the proposals were
not economically competitive and will not be pursued further.
Lawson
added, "Building the plant ourselves is more
economical in this case for primarily two main reasons. First,
the utilities involved in this project are all not-for-profit
entities. It's safe to assume there is a profit margin in
the power sale proposals. Second, the utilities involved
in this project can issue tax-exempt financing for the power
plant. This is a lower cost of borrowing that makes a difference
on a capital-intensive project like a coal plant."
"Completing this market comparison is another milestone
in our project's development," Lawson said. "Now
that we know this plant is our best option, we look forward
to proceeding with the permitting process. At the same time,
we will continue our community outreach activities in Taylor
County. We have a good story to tell and are committed to
being a good neighbor."
The Taylor Energy Center is a proposed state-of-the-art
800 MW power plant to be located in Taylor County, Fla.,
near the city of Perry. The mission of the project is to
provide reliable power at an affordable price in an environmentally
responsible manner. This $1.5 billion power plant will create
1,500 construction jobs and 180 permanent jobs. The plant
will be jointly owned by four community-owned electric utilities:
Florida Municipal Power Agency, JEA, the City of Tallahassee,
Fla., and Reedy Creek Improvement District. Additional information
is available on the Internet at www.taylorenergycenter.org.
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Contact:
Mark McCain
Taylor Energy Center spokesperson
407 355-7767
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