MORE NEWS, 5-26 (FLA UTILITY WANTS NEW ENERGY; AWEA URGES OHIO TO OPEN UP FOR WIND; URANIUM FROM STRANGERS)

FLA UTILITY WANTS NEW ENERGY
Clean Energy Ensures Future Growth, FPL Chairman Tells Shareholders
Alison Kroulek, May 25, 2009 (greenstocks)

"Lew Hay, FPL Groups Chairman and CEO, advised FPL shareholders at the company’s annual meeting that FPL’s investments in alternative energy will pay off in continued growth. FPL’s investment in clean energy sources like wind power and solar power are not only good for the environment, they are also good for the company’s bottom line-especially if the government starts taxing carbon emissions…"

[Lew Hay, Chairman/CEO, FPL Groups:] “FPL Group has one of the lowest emissions rates in the sector. In fact, if every utility were as clean as FPL Group, CO2 emissions from the power sector would be reduced by nearly 50 percent and total U.S. carbon emissions would be reduced by 20 percent. That’s the equivalent of removing 209 million cars from the road, or roughly 80 percent of all vehicles in the nation…”

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[Lew Hay, Chairman/CEO, FPL Groups:] “The true test of companies is not how well they perform in a booming economy. It is how well they perform in the face of a challenge…[FPL Group’s strong performance in the current economic downturn is] a powerful endorsement of our strategy, our commitment to financial discipline, and our dedicated and talented employees.”

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"FPL Group’s success in 2008 contributed to the company’s strong performance relative to its peers…as measured by both total shareholder return and growth in market capitalization."

[Lew Hay, Chairman/CEO, FPL Groups:] “Consider this one simple fact: A dollar invested in the S&P 500 at the end of 2001 was worth 90 cents at the end of 2008. A dollar invested in FPL Group had more than doubled to $2.17…”


AWEA URGES OHIO TO OPEN UP FOR WIND
Wind energy group urges Ohio to change tax setup
May 23, 2009 (AP via Chicago Tribune)

"…The American Wind Energy Association says Ohio's existing tax method could be a hurdle to boosting the amount of electricity in Ohio that comes from renewable sources [and wants Ohio leaders to change the state's taxes to attract wind energy developers and compete with neighboring states, where such energy projects would pay lower taxes].

"About a year ago, state lawmakers passed a landmark energy bill that requires 12.5 percent of electricity sold in the state to come from renewable sources by 2025. The requirement is being phased in, starting at 0.25 percent this year and escalating each following year."

Ohio has big wind assets and should not let weak tax policy cause them to go to waste. (click to enlarge)


"In a letter sent to Gov. Ted Strickland, the association has asked the state to consider charging a production tax on electricity generated by wind turbines, instead of requiring a tangible personal property tax on an electric utility's equipment…Last year, gas and electric utilities paid more than $620 million in tangible personal property taxes…Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania and West Virginia have reduced or eliminated that tax, making them more attractive to potential wind energy developers…"

Wasting wind assets means wasting all these wind business opportunities. (click to enlarge)

"Strickland's energy adviser, Mark Shanahan, who also directs the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority, says he first wants to see state-by-state tax comparisons and evaluate some of the group's claims he thinks are inaccurate.

"Any tax change would require a comprehensive review of utility taxes to be fair, Shanahan said."



URANIUM FROM STRANGERS
Uranium Production Boost
Pamela Coyle, May 22, 2009 (Michigan Green)

"Demand for enriched uranium is escalating. Three facilities in the works will help fill a gap that will hit in 2013, when [a 1995] agreement with Russia to supply [bomb-grade uranium from dismantled Russian warheads for about 40 percent of enrichment uranium] for U.S. nuclear power plants expires.

"The nation's existing fleet of 104 reactors [and any of the 27 new facilities applied for with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that come online] must line up their supplies [of uranium] well in advance…Centrifuge technology will anchor all three facilities…The technology is said to be a modern way to enrich uranium…European plants have long used [it]…The only current domestic source of enriched uranium is from a USEC subsidiary in Paducah, Ky., that uses older and energy-gobbling gaseous diffusion technology."

Energy expert Amory Lovins believes nuclear is already too expensive to be practical...(click to enlarge)

"Louisiana Energy Services' $3 billion facility…is expected to start commercial production by the end of 2009. USEC's $3.5 billion facility, the American Centrifuge Plant, will run its first tests this summer as a demonstration project and bring some product to market by the end of this year. In December, Paris-based Areva filed its application for a $3.5 billion enrichment plant [with its first phase set for 2014]...

"Capacity is a big issue…All three plants under development are modular and can expand while online. USEC will turn out 3.8 million "work units" at initial capacity. But it studied the possibility of seven million annually…"

...and the new technologies won't make it more affordable. (click to enlarge)

"Applications from both Areva and USEC for $2 billion in loan guarantees from the U.S. Department of Energy could impact project time lines. Tight credit -- plus the market's historic reluctance to back nuclear projects -- makes access to capital critical. USEC said it should receive priority because it is the only wholly owned U.S. enrichment facility. It also is a better play for better energy security as well as national security and uses more advanced technology…Areva said market conditions justify its application, citing technology with a proven track record and known economics…

"Centrifuge technology is new for the United States, but third-generation technology is already on the way…The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a license for [building a test loop last year…[I]f the global communities shift to low-carbon generation forms that include using more nuclear power, then the demand for uranium will spike. That's what some companies are banking on…"

Schematic centrifuge technology. The rotating cylinder forces the heavier U-238 atoms to the outside, leaving the lighter U-235 atoms in the middle, separating the enriched and depleted streams to be piped on. (From the the European Nuclear Society. Click to enlarge.)