The state - unable to figure out what happened to more than $8 million that Florida Power & Light collected from customers in its green energy program - on Tuesday ordered FPL to end the program immediately.
"This program has been mismanaged from the inception," said Florida Public Service Commissioner Nathan Skop, the biggest critic of FPL's Sunshine Energy Program. "The bottom line is 80 percent of the money is unaccounted for."
FPL's attorney, R. Wade Litchfield, defended the program, saying FPL complied with every requirement of the commission's 2006 order establishing the program. Although FPL filed a request to revamp it after a stinging audit released in June, the company offered no opposition to the commission's unanimous decision to end it. It merely asked for more time to "unwind the program," Litchfield said.
"We can't do it on a dime, and we can't do it today," Litchfield said. "Within about two weeks of the final consummating order, we believe we will have gotten through the last billing cycle."
But the commission held firm on ending the program Tuesday. FPL must deposit any money collected after Tuesday in an escrow account until the commission's staff can finish its audit of the program. Depending on the audit's findings, the commission may order rebates or credits to nearly 39,000 customers who enrolled.
After Tuesday's meeting, FPL officials disputed accusations that the program was mismanaged, saying that it had outlived its usefulness and that Florida legislators are focused on other renewable energy programs.
FPL touted the program as a way for customers to help the company develop renewable energy in Florida. The program promised to develop 150 kilowatts of solar energy in Florida for every 10,000 customers who agreed to give the company $9.75 a month. In addition, FPL agreed to purchase 1,000 kilowatt hours of renewable energy credits for every subscriber every month.
FPL contracted with Green Mountain, a company in Austin, Texas, to run the program. An audit found that Green Mountain spent most of the money for salaries, office expenses, business and travel, research, marketing and a public relations consultant. Details of those expenditures have not been given to auditors.
Most of the green energy that Green Mountain purchased for the Sunshine Energy Program came from utilities outside of Florida.
"We don't know how much is being spent on purchasing (green energy), which is why we think that a significant portion of the money is going into the pockets of someone or administration or whatever," said commission general counsel Michael Cooke. "That doesn't mean that they're doing anything wrong. ... We have tried diligently to get to the bottom of this. I don't think we're comfortable that we've gotten as much cooperation as we would like, and that raises red flags for us."
Green Mountain and FPL officials agreed to work with auditors.
"Was more spent on marketing than they liked? Yes," said Paul Markovich, Green Mountain's senior vice president of residential services. "It takes capital if you want to grow the program. The 38,000 customers who registered for the program didn't seek us out, we had to go to them with an effective way to reach them."
As for those customers, FPL will mail notices about the program's termination to every customer "within a reasonable period, 30 to 45 days," including those who receive and pay their bills on the Internet, spokesman Mayco Villafana said. However, no instructions were offered for customers whose bills are due in the next week.
"It was a lot of money, but I went along with it figuring my money has been doing something good," said Jan Mamone of suburban Lake Worth. She enrolled in the program three years ago. "I did get two free light bulbs. ... I hope we get some of that money back."
PalmBeachPost.com
