Sierra Club denounces legislation to make Floridians foot the bill for out-of-state fracked gas

A bill under consideration in the state Legislature would let Florida Power and Light and other utilities make customers pay for exploratory gas fracking in other states and also make customers give the utilities a guaranteed profit for that exploration.

A Senate panel on Tuesday approved SB 1238, which would undo a 2016 Supreme Court ruling that said companies are overstepping their authority in passing along these costs to ratepayers.

This bill would not only cost customers millions, but would lock FPL, the state’s largest utility, into an increased reliance on environmentally destructive, climate disrupting fossil fuels for decades to come.

In response, Frank Jackalone, director for the Sierra Club’s Florida chapter, issued the following statement:

“Senate Bill 1238 is nothing but an assault on the environment and on Florida ratepayers. Florida Power & Light wants to bill their ratepayers for risky investments in fracking, which is incredibly harmful to public health and the environment, instead of investing in the clean, renewable energy resources that millions of Floridians voted for twice in the last election. It’s time that the Florida legislature put the voters and our communities first.”