Florida Public Service Commission native order document 02590-2024

Order No. PSC-2024-0139-PCO-EGFlapubserv

Full text

FILED 4/30/2024
DOCUMENT NO. 02590-2024
FPSC - COMMISSION CLERK
BEFORE THE FLORIDA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
In re: Commission review of numeric
conservation goals (Florida Power & Light
Company).
In re: Commission review of numeric
conservation goals (Duke Energy Florida,
LLC).
In re: Commission review of numeric
conservation goals (Tampa Electric Company).
In re: Commission review of numeric
conservation goals (JEA).
In re: Commission review of numeric
conservation goals (Orlando Utilities
Commission).
DOCKET NO. 20240012-EG
DOCKET NO. 20240013-EG
DOCKET NO. 20240014-EG
DOCKET NO. 20240016-EG
DOCKET NO. 20240017-EG
ORDER NO. PSC-2024-0139-PCO-EG
ISSUED: April 30, 2024
ORDER GRANTING INTERVENTION
FOR SOUTHERN ALLIANCE FOR CLEAN ENERGY
On 	January 	5, 	2024, 	Docket 	Nos. 	20240012-EG, 	20240013-EG, 	20240014-EG,
20240015-EG, 20240016-EG, and 20240017-EG were established to review and adopt the
corresponding utility's conservation goals pursuant to Sections 366.80-366.83 and 403.519,
Florida Statutes. (F .S.), known collectively as the Florida Energy Efficiency a nd Conservation
Act (FEECA). By the Order Consolidating Dockets and Establishing Procedure, Order No. PSC-
2024-0022-PCO-EG, issued January 23, 2024, the dockets were consolidated for purposes of
hearing and controlling dates were established. These dockets are currently scheduled for hearing
on August 6-9, 2024.
Petition for Intervention
On April 19 , 2024, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) filed at Petition to
Intervene in Docket Nos. 20240012-EG, 	20240013-EG, 20240014-EG, 20240016-EG, and
20240017-EG. SACE is a non-profit clean energy corporation organized under the laws of the
State of Tennessee, and is authorized to conduct operations in the State of Florida. The mi ssion
of SACE, reflected in its bylaws, is to advocate for energy plans, policies, and systems that best
serve the environmental, public health, and economic interest of communities in the Southeastern
United States, including Florida. 	SACE asserts that it places a priority on evaluating all
opportunities for displacing non-renewable electricity generation with lower cost end-use energy
efficiency measures. SACE asserts that these measures reduce the amount of fossil 	fuels
ORDER NO. PSC-2024-0139-PCO-EG
DOCKET NOS. 20240012-EG,
20240013-EG, 20240014-EG,
20240016-EG, 20240017-EG
PAGE 2
consumed and reduce the overall electric system costs for customers, which includes SACE
members. SACE had more than 8,000 members residing in Florida. Approximately 5,812 of
those members reside within the service territory of Florida Power & Light Company (FPL),
1,620 reside within the service territory of Duke Energy Florida (DEF), 531 reside within the
service territory of Tampa Electric Company (TECO), 260 reside within the service territory of
JEA, and 105 reside within the service territory of Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC). No
party indicated an objection to SACE’s intervention.
Standards for Intervention
Pursuant to Rule 28-106.205, F.A.C., persons, other than the original parties to a pending
proceeding, who have a substantial interest in the proceeding and who desire to become parties
may move for leave to intervene. Motions for leave to intervene must be filed at least twenty (20)
days before the final hearing, must comply with Rule 28-106.204(3), F.A.C., and must include
allegations sufficient to demonstrate that the intervenor is entitled to participate in the proceeding
as a matter of constitutional or statutory right or pursuant to Commission rule, or that the
substantial interests of the intervenor are subject to determination or will be affected through the
proceeding. Intervenors take the case as they find it.
To have standing, the intervenor must meet the three-prong standing test set forth in
Florida Home Builders Association v. Department of Labor and Employment Security, 412 So.
2d 351, 353-54 (Fla. 1982), and Farmworker Rights Organization, Inc. v. Department of Health
and Rehabilitative Services, 417 So. 2d 753, 754 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982), which is based on the
basic 	standing 	principles 	established 	in 	Agrico 	Chemical 	Company 	v. 	Department 	of
Environmental Regulation, 406 So. 2d 478, 481-82 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981). 1 Associational standing
may be found where: (1) the association demonstrates that a substantial number of an
association’s members may be substantially affected by the Commission’s decision in a docket;
(2) the subject matter of the proceeding is within the association’s general scope of interest and
activity; and (3) the relief requested is of a type appropriate for the association to receive on
behalf of its members. Fla. Home Builders, 412 So. 2d at 353-54; Farmworker Rights Org.,417
So. 2d at 754.
1 	Under Agrico, the intervenor must show that (1) he will suffer injury in fact which is of sufficient immediacy to
entitle him to a Section 120.57, F.S., hearing, and (2) the substantial injury is of a type or nature which the
proceeding is designed to protect. The first aspect of the test deals with the degree of injury. The second deals with
the nature of the injury. 406 So. 2d 478 at 482. The "injury in fact" must be both real and immediate and not
speculative or conjectural. International Jai-Alai Players Assn. v. Florida Pari-Mutuel Commission, 561 So. 2d
1224, 1225-26 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990). See also: Village Park Mobile Home Assn., Inc. v. State Dept. of Business
Regulation, 506 So. 2d 426, 434 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987), rev. den., 513 So. 2d 1063 (Fla. 1987) (speculation on the
possible occurrence of injurious events is too remote).
ORDER NO. PSC-2024-0139-PCO-EG
DOCKET NOS. 20240012-EG,
20240013-EG, 20240014-EG,
20240016-EG, 20240017-EG
PAGE 3
Analysis and Ruling
Based on above representations, it appears that SACE meets the associational standing
requirements of Florida Home Builders. SACE has demonstrated that a substantial number of its
Florida members may be substantially affected by the Commission’s decisions as to the
appropriate conservation goals and programs. The conservation goals in this proceeding are
within SACE’s general scope of interest and activity. SACE seeks to directly and cost-effectively
reduce the amount of fossil fuels and displace the need for new power plants, thereby reducing
costs for customers, which is appropriate relief for SACE to receive on behalf of its members.
SACE meets the requirements for associational standing and will be permitted to intervene as a
party 	in 	Docket 	Nos. 	20240012-EG, 	20240013-EG, 	20240014-EG, 	20240016-EG, 	and
20240017-EG. SACE takes the case as it finds it.
Based on the above representations, it is
ORDERED by Commissioner Art Graham, as Prehearing Officer, that the Motion to
Intervene filed by Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is hereby granted as set forth in the body
of this Order. It is further
ORDERED that Southern Alliance for Clean Energy takes the case as it finds it. It is
further
ORDERED that all parties to this proceeding shall furnish copies of all testimony,
exhibits, pleadings, and other documents which may hereinafter be filed in this proceeding to:
William C. Garner
Law Office of William C. Garner, PLLC
3425 Bannerman Road
Unit 105, No. 414
Tallahassee, FL 32312
(850) 320-1701 (tel)
(850) 792-6011
bgarner@wcglawoffice.com
ORDER NO. PSC-2024-0139-PCO-EG
DOCKET NOS. 20240012-EG,
20240013-EG, 20240014-EG,
20240016-EG, 20240017-EG
PAGE 4
By ORDER of Commissioner Art Graham, as Prehearing Officer, this 30th day of April,
2024.
ART GRAHAM
Commissioner and Prehearing Officer
Florida Public Service Commission
2540 Shumard Oak Boulevard
Tallahassee, Florida 32399
(850) 413-6770
www.floridapsc.com
Copies furnished: A copy of this document is
provided to the parties of record at the time of
issuance and, if applicable, interested persons.
JDI
NOTICE OF FURTHER PROCEEDINGS OR JUDICIAL REVIEW
The Florida Public Service Commission is required by Section 120.569(1), Florida
Statutes, to notify parties of any administrative hearing or judicial review of Commission orders
that is available under Sections 120.57 or 120.68, Florida Statutes, as well as the procedures and
time limits that apply. This notice should not be construed to mean all requests for an
administrative hearing or judicial review will be granted or result in the relief sought.
Mediation may be available on a case-by-case basis. If mediation is conducted, it does
not affect a substantially interested person's right to a hearing.
Any 	party 	adversely 	affected 	by 	this 	order, 	which 	is 	preliminary, 	procedural 	or
intermediate in nature, may request: (1) reconsideration within 10 days pursuant to Rule 25-
22.0376, Florida Administrative Code; or (2) judicial review by the Florida Supreme Court, in
the case of an electric, gas or telephone utility, or the First District Court of Appeal, in the case
of a water or wastewater utility. A motion for reconsideration shall be filed with the Office of
Commission Clerk, in the form prescribed by Rule 25-22.0376, Florida Administrative Code.
Judicial review of a preliminary, procedural or intermediate ruling or order is available if review
of the final action will not provide an adequate remedy. Such review may be requested from the
appropriate court, as described above, pursuant to Rule 9.100, Florida Rules of Appellate
Procedure.

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