The much ballyhooed electricity plant construction race inFlorida finally got underway on Monday as the Florida PublicService Commission (PSC) unanimously approved the first independentpower combined cycle facility under the Florida Power Plant SitingAct. The approved application for a 529 MW facility was submittedby Calpine Corp. and Seminole Electric Cooperative.

The Osprey Energy Center will be located in Auburndale, FL, nextto Calpine’s existing 150 MW facility. Under the agreement, Calpinewill build the plant, while Seminole’s 10 member distributioncooperatives consisting of 1.5 million customers will have accessto the electricity for a period of 17 years, beginning in June2003. In addition, Calpine also reported that it will add a 100 MWpeaking unit to the existing 150 MW site.

“Today’s vote is a milestone in the development of competitivepower generation in Florida and is the keystone in Calpine’sstrategic plan for Florida and the southeastern United States,”stated Bob Alff, Calpine senior vice president. “Through ourcooperative effort with Seminole, the Osprey Energy Center willprovide reliable, cost-effective and environmentally responsiblepower generation services that wholesale customers in Florida areseeking.”

Calpine said in October 2000 it hoped the contract to supply powerto the cooperative would support its petition for Determination ofNeed before the PSC (see Daily GPI, Oct. 18,2000). The commission’s criteria requiring the new plants dedicatepower for in-state use effectively blocked Duke Energy’s plans for a514 MW plant near New Smyrna Beach late last year (see Daily GPI, Oct. 6, 2000).

Calpine said the project will now move toward final hearings andapproval by Florida’s Power Plant Siting Board, withground-breaking expected to occur later this year.

The Osprey project and the company’s 1,080 MW Blue Heron EnergyCenter account for Calpine’s previously announced $750 millionexpansion onslaught on the Florida electricity market. The BlueHeron project will be located in Indian River County, west of VeroBeach. The company also reinforced its presence in the state byopening an office in Tampa during 2000.

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