FPL Ordered to Refund $6.2 Million to Customers

December 16, 2008

Miami Herald - State regulators ordered Florida Power & Light to refund $6.2
million to its customers to cover the expenses caused by a
disgruntled contract worker who drilled a hole in a pipe at the Turkey Point nuclear
power plant.
Customers will get a credit of about $1 on their monthly bill.

"The company really needs to take a second look and much more
diligent and serious look at who they allowed to be unescorted inside
a nuclear facility," Commissioner Nancy Argenziano said Tuesday shortly before
the unanimous vote ordering the refund.

The utility did not speak at Tuesday's hearing, but FPL spokesman
Mayco Villafana wrote in an e-mail to The Miami Herald: "We're
disappointed with today's decision and concerned about the precedent
it might set."

The $6.2 million was for costs and interest for alternative fuel
used while the nuclear plant was out of commission as investigators
tried to find out what had caused the hole.

The Public Service Commission originally approved the additional
fuel charge, but the Office of Public Counsel, representing consumers, had asked
for a reexamination of the issue.

The Public Counsel had received federal reports that said the
contract worker had failed an FPL psychological test, had a criminal
background and was heard complaining loudly that FPL was mistreating him.

The investigation showed he had been arrested for criminal
recklessness and criminal mischief in 1990, the FBI reported, but the
charges were dismissed in 1994. He pleaded guilty to driving under
the influence in 1990. In 1991, charges of discharging a firearm in
public were dismissed. In 1989, charges of public intoxication and reckless
driving were also dismissed.

The FBI reported the man was upset the long background check cost
him time he wasn't paid for. That included four computer tests,
instruction on the site and radiation hazards and a 600-question psychological test.

In his e-mail to The Herald, FPL's Villafana wrote: "The relevant
facts about this issue are as follows: First, at no time was the
safety of the plant compromised by the action of this individual.

"Second, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission concluded that our
security programs, including our plant access procedures, fully
complied with that agency's own strict regulatory requirements and that no changes were
required. Our procedures, including our training, deployment and
oversight
of personnel during the 2006 spring refueling, met NRC and industry
standards.

"Third, we presented the necessary information to show that our
actions were prudent and reasonable, which is the test for cost
recovery in Florida."