Florida Public Service Commission native order document 04486-2024

FILED 6/3/2024
DOCUMENT NO. 04486-2024
FPSC - COMMISSION CLERK
BEFORE THE FLORIDA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
In re: Petition for rate increase by Tampa
Electric Company.
In re: Petition for approval of 2023
depreciation and dismantlement study, by
Tampa Electric Company.
In re: Petition to implement 2024 generation
base rate adjustment provisions in paragraph 4
of the 2021 stipulation and settlement
agreeme nt , by Tampa Electric Company.
DOCKET NO. 20240026-EI
DOCKET NO. 20230139-EI
DOCKET NO. 20230090-EI
ORDER NO. PSC-2024-0182-PCO-EI
ISSUED: June 3, 2024
ORDER GRANTING INTERVENTION OF
THE AMERICANS FOR AFFORDABLE CLEAN
ENERGY, INC ., CIRCLE K STORES, INC.,
RACETRAC, INC. AND WA WA, INC.
On April 2, 2024, Tampa Electric Company ("TECO" or "Utility") filed a petition,
minimum filing requirements, and testimony for an increase in base rates effective January 2025 .
By Order No. PSC-2024-0096-PCO-EI, an administrative hearing has been scheduled for these
matters for August 26- 30, 2024.
Petition for Intervention
On April 24, 2024, the Americans for Affordable Clean Energy, Inc. ("AACE"), Circle K
Stores, Inc. ("Circle K"), RaceTrac Inc. ("RaceTrac"), and Wawa, Inc. ("Wawa") (collectively
"Petitioners") filed their Petitions to Intervene ("Petition"). 	Petitioners represent that they
consulted with TECO and the Office of Public Counsel and neither objects to its intervention. No
intervenor filed an objection to this intervention.
AACE
According to the Petition, AACE is an established nonprofit association of fuel retailers
that includes Circle K, RaceTrac, and Wawa, each of which also seeks intervention in this
matter. The Petition states AACE 's intervention in this matter is on behalf of its five fuel retailer
members in Florida all of whom are TECO customers a nd include owners and operators of
convenience stores, public travel facilities, and truck stops. AACE asserts that its members
provide fuel of all types, including electric vehicle ("EV") charging, as well as other services
dependent upon electric service from TECO and thus the rates, terms, and conditions governing
the provision of that electric service will have a substantial and material impact on AACE.

ORDER NO. PSC-2024-0182-PCO-EI
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Circle K
Also according to the Petition, Circle K is one of the largest independent convenience
store operators in the United States, with approximately 70 locations within TECO’s service
territory, one of which currently offers electric vehicle charging services. Accordingly, Circle K
is a large retail customer of TECO, whose further expansion of EV refueling stations with
TECO’s service territory is dependent, in part, upon the outcome of this hearing.
RaceTrac
Again according to the Petition, RaceTrac is a family-owned business currently operating
over 800 convenience stores, with 295 stores operating in Florida including 39 refueling stations
located within TECO’s service territory. RaceTrac pays TECO substantial amounts for electric
service each year, making RaceTrac a large retail customer of TECO. RaceTrac currently offers
EV charging in areas outside of TECO’s service area and looks to expand its EV charging
services into the TECO area.
Wawa
Finally, according to the Petition, Wawa is a privately held, family-owned company
operating approximately 280 stores in Florida while continuing to actively expand in Florida.
Wawa currently has 30 locations within TECO’s service territory, including 6 which have EV
charging stations, making Wawa a large retail customer of TECO. Wawa anticipates adding 25
EV refueling stations within TECO’s service territory over the next 10 years.
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 Florida Public Service
Commission (“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.
Circle K, RaceTrac, and Wawa (collectively, “the Fuel Retailers”) argue that they are
persons whose substantial interest may be impacted and, therefore, have standing to intervene
under the two-prong standing test set forth in Agrico Chemical Company v. Department of
Environmental Regulation.1 Under Agrico, the intervenors must show that (1) they will suffer
1 Agrico Chem. Co. v. Dep’t of Envtl. Regulation, 406 So. 2d 478, 481–82 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981).

ORDER NO. PSC-2024-0182-PCO-EI
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PAGE 3
injury in fact that is of sufficient immediacy to entitle them to a Section 120.57, F.S., hearing,
and (2) the substantial injury is of a type or nature that the proceeding is designed to protect.
Agrico at 482. The first aspect of the test deals with the degree of injury. The second deals with
the nature of the injury. The "injury in fact" must be both real and immediate and not speculative
or conjectural.2
AACE argues that it has standing to represent its members as an association. The test for
associational standing was established in Florida Home Builders Association v. Department of
Labor and Employment Security3 and Farmworker Rights Organization, Inc. v. Department of
Health and Rehabilitative Services,4 which is based on the basic standing principles established
in Agrico.5 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.6
Analysis and Ruling
AACE and the Fuel Retailers allege that they are large retail customers of the Utility and
therefore their substantial interests as ratepayers will or may be affected by TECO’s request for a
rate increase. Furthermore, AACE alleges the subject matter of this proceeding is well within its
established scope of interest and activity, that AACE routinely appears on behalf of its members’
interest in a variety of regulatory proceedings, and that the relief being requested appears to be of
a type appropriate for this association to obtain on behalf of its members. Therefore, AACE
meets the requirements for associational standing and the Fuel Retailers meet the requirements
for individual standing. Accordingly, AACE and the Fuel Retailers will be permitted to intervene
as parties in this proceeding.
The determination in this Order that the Petition shall be granted as to AACE and the
Fuel Retailers is based solely upon the status of the individual intervenors and association
members as TECO ratepayers. Intervention is not being granted based upon the alleged impacts
of EV charger programs or the development of green hydrogen as an alternative fuel on
economic interests or business competition. Such claims are beyond the scope of a base rate
proceeding.7 The impact of EV charger programs and green hydrogen on base rates and TECO
2 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).
3 Fla. Home Builders Ass’n v. Dep’t of Labor & Emp’t Sec., 412 So.2d 351 (Fla. 1982).
4 Farmworker Rights Org., Inc. v. Dep’t of Health & Rehab. Servs., 417 So.2d 753 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982).
5 Agrico, 406 So. 2d 478, 481–82.
6 Fla. Home Builders Ass’n, 412 So.2d at 353–54; Farmworker Rights Org., Inc., 417 So.2d at 754.
7 Order No. PSC-2021-01510PCO-EI, issued April 22, 2021, in Docket No. 20210016-EI, In re: Petition for limited
proceeding to approve 2021 settlement agreement, including general based rate increases, by Duke Energy Florida,
LLC. (“broad economic competition-based arguments for standing also do not satisfy the second prong of the Agrico
test, because the injury . . . is not of a type or nature that this proceeding is designed to protect”).

ORDER NO. PSC-2024-0182-PCO-EI
DOCKET NOS. 20240026-EI, 20230139-EI, 20230090-EI
PAGE 4
ratepayers may or may not present appropriate issues for consideration in this docket. If
necessary, this determination will be made by the Prehearing Officer in the Prehearing Order.
Based on the foregoing, it is
ORDERED by Commissioner Gary Clark, as Prehearing Officer, that the Petition to
Intervene filed by the Americans for Affordable Clean Energy, Inc., Circle K Stores, Inc.,
RaceTrac Inc., and Wawa, Inc. is hereby granted as set forth in the body of this Order. It is
further
ORDERED that the Americans for Affordable Clean Energy, Inc., Circle K Stores, Inc.,
RaceTrac Inc., and Wawa, Inc. take the case as they find 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:
Floyd R. Self, B.C.S.
Ruth Vafek, Esq.
Berger Singerman, LLP
313 North Monroe Street, Suite 301
Tallahassee, FL 32301
Telephone: (850) 521-6727
Email: fself@bergersingerman.com
Email: rvafek@bergersingerman.com

ORDER NO. PSC-2024-0182-PCO-EI
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By ORDER of Commissioner Gary F. Clark, as Prehearing Officer, this 3rd day of June,
2024.
GARY F. CLARK
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.
TPS

ORDER NO. PSC-2024-0182-PCO-EI
DOCKET NOS. 20240026-EI, 20230139-EI, 20230090-EI
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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.