Danny Cullenward: I spoke to Emily Mahoney with the Tampa Bay Times about a bill in the Florida legislature that would enable Florida utilities to invest in renewable natural gas infrastructure and pass their costs along to customers. Buckle up, this is going to be a crazy thread.

I spoke to Emily Mahoney with the Tampa Bay Times about a bill in the Florida legislature that would enable Florida utilities to invest in renewable natural gas infrastructure and pass their costs along to customers. Buckle up, this is going to be a crazy thread.

Will natural gas made from manure increase Florida electric bills?www.tampabay.com A bill written by a utility company could expand ‘renewable natural gas’ in the state.

I was very interested to hear about utility cost recovery because there is already a literal gold rush in the renewable natural gas industry, thanks to lavish subsidies from California and the federal government. By the way, “gold rush” is The Wall Street Journal’s phrase — I just borrowed it.

California’s Green-Energy Subsidies Spur a Gold Rush in Cow Manurewww.wsj.com Money is pouring in to produce a type of natural gas made from methane from decomposing manure, and a host of developers, financiers and carbon-conscious corporations—including Amazon and Chevron—are interested.

Although utilities sometimes need permission to do what everyone else is already doing, they are also very good at getting a little extra slice of the action along the way. But I couldn’t figure out why cost recovery was needed in the first place, given how much money everyone else is making.

For those who aren’t familiar with utility cost recovery, utility investments that are approved by their regulator get collected from ratepayers — with a profit. That’s necessary to pay for the infrastructure customers share, like the distribution lines running to your home or workplace.

But when the underlying project is a net money-maker (due to insane subsidies from other governments), why is cost recovery needed? So I read the bill (SB 480) and, hoo boy, things do not look good. Follow along with me!

www.flsenate.gov

The bill text is pretty much unreadable to non-lawyers. It allows the utility regulator to authorize an “experimental mechanism” for cost recovery based on a cross-reference to a separate, existing authority.

So what is “the structure set forth in s. 366.96(7) and (8)” you might ask? It’s a provision to authorize cost recovery for storm protection investments, which is a big deal in places like Florida that are subject to extreme wind, rain, and flooding events.

Chapter 366 - 2022 Florida Statutes - The Florida Senate CHAPTER 366www.flsenate.gov

I was at my parents place in Florida recently and surprised to learn that they no longer have a recycling program. Instead all their trash is burned for fuel which counts as “recycling”

You can also make methane from trash in landfills and hey let’s call that “renewable” too

Groan...

Other than the literal bill drafting, I'm not sure what the complaint is here. Without the infrastructure in place to capture, clean and bring to end users, the methane would just be flared or, more likely, vented into the atmosphere. Considering FL's politics, this seems like a viable solution.

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play? But I take your point about political constraints. However, it's not clear that the bill would be limited to non-fossil investments. See the FL PSC concern; other places are greenlighting fossil + RNG infrastructure together as "RNG."

Ouch okay, but deserved. Did Emily speak to you at all about the better ag waste storage technologies/policies that she touches on in her article? It's not something I'm familiar with and would love to learn more.

Character limits, both typographic and personal :) Mostly I wanted to convey that the drafting *is* the story, and the potential/probable loopholes should be concerning wherever one comes down on strategy X/Y for LFG, RNG, etc.

I didn't speak in much depth to the substantive technology and strategy issues, since my focus was on the distributional cost and drafting issues. But I've found this resource to be enormously helpful on the dairy side. I don't have a similar resource on LFG handy + welcome any suggestions.

Mitigating Emissions from California’s Dairies: Considering the Role of Anaerobic Digesterslaw.ucla.edu The California Air Resources Board’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) seeks to incentivize the production and sale of alternative, lower-emissions transportation fuels to displace conventional fossil f...

I know this is a serious topic, but I can already tell this going to be a great read. Thank you for sharing. I can't speak to the specifics around the Florida PSC, but I've known Commissioners and Staff from other ruby-red states who take concerns around the socialization of cost very seriously.

Stop manure. Problem solved.

So, anything for an excuse to raise prices.

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