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Proposed Power Plant Near Palatka Gets Backing

Putnam County power
Seminole Electric Cooperative

Staff members of the Florida Public Service Commission have recommended giving key approvals to two proposed power plants that would generate electricity for customers of electric cooperatives across the state.

The Public Service Commission is scheduled May 8 to decide whether to approve what are known as “determinations of need” for the proposed plants in Putnam and Pasco counties.

Such approvals are important regulatory steps in moving forward with power plants. Seminole Electric Cooperative, Inc., which supplies wholesale electricity to cooperatives, wants to build a plant in Putnam County near Palatka and is jointly seeking approval with Shady Hills Energy Center, LLC for a plant in Pasco County.

Seminole Electric contends that the projects are the most cost-effective way to meet the future energy needs of customers of cooperatives.

But the projects have drawn opposition from Quantum Pasco Power, L.P., which owns an already-existing plant in Pasco County.

In a detailed 46-page document filed Thursday, Public Service Commission staff members recommended approval of the proposals.

“With the expiration of existing PPAs (power purchase agreements), staff recommends that Seminole has demonstrated a need for the Shady Hills facility in 2021 and the Seminole facility in 2022 to maintain its system reliability and integrity,” the staff recommendation said.