Florida PSC approves 100 MW biomass plant in Gainesville

[jtrockville]

No financial risk to the city.
The plant still needs to get approval from Florida's Department of Environmental Protection
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100528/articles/5281002

[katmondoo]

1. I'm a GRU customer

Will I be paying for this? So far I am not sure if it is environmentally safe. I live here and never heard this being discussed.

[jtrockville]

2. Yes. But let's face it: energy isn't going to get cheaper any time soon.

From the article:

...snip...

If and when the plant gets built, rates will almost certainly go up, with forecasts predicting increases between $4.13 and $18.72 for ratepayers' monthly bills, in part because the initial cost of the energy produced by the biomass plant will be higher than current costs.

But, if carbon legislation passes and GRU is able to sell surplus energy, customers could be paying less than their current rates by 2021.

...snip...