Florida Public Service Commission native order document 02370-2024

FILED 4/25/2024
DOCUMENT NO. 02370-2024
FPSC - COMMISSION CLERK
BEFORE THE FLORIDA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
In re: Commission review of numeric 	DOCKET NO. 20240012-EG
conservation goals (Florida Power & Light 	ORDER NO. PSC-2024-0134-PCO-EG
Com an ). 	ISSUED: April 25, 2024
---~~------------~
ORDER GRANTING INTERVENTION
FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONFEDERATION
OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
On 	January 	5, 	2024, 	Docket 	Nos. 	20240012-EG, 	20240013-EG, 	20240014-EG,
20240015-EG, 20240016-EG, and 20240017-EG were established to review and adopt the
corresponding utility's conservation goals pursuant to Sections 366.80-366.83 and 403.519,
Florida Statutes. (F.S.), known collectively as the Florida Energy Efficiency and Conservation
Act (FEECA). By the Order Consolidating Dockets and Establishing Procedure, Order No. PSC-
2024-0022-PCO-EG, issued January 23, 2024, the dockets were consolidated for purposes of
hearing and controlling dates were established. These dockets are currently scheduled for hearing
on August 6-9, 2024
Petition for Intervention
On 	March 	15, 2024, 	the 	Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida, 	Inc.
("ECOSWF") filed its Petition to Intervene in Docket No. 	20240012-EG. ECOSWF was
organized 	for 	the 	purpose 	of 	conserving 	the 	natural 	resources 	of 	Southwest 	Florida,
implementing energy efficiency improvements and alternatives, and engaging in actions in the
furtherance of energy conservation and alternative energy source development. ECOSWF has a
substantial 	number 	of members 	consisting 	of business 	entities, 	other 	organizations, 	and
individuals living in Southwest Florida that reside in FPL's service territory and are FPL' s
customers. ECOSWF alleges its members face high electricity bills that can be mitigated by the
use of cost-effective energy efficiency and demand-side management measures and programs
with the goals being set by this proceeding. No party indicated an objection to ECOSWF's
intervention.
Standards for Intervention
Pursuant to Rule 28-106.205, F.A.C., persons, other than the original parties to a pending
proceeding, who have a substantial interest in the proceeding and who desire to become parties,
may move for leave to intervene. Motions for leave to intervene must be filed at least twenty (20)
days before the final hearing, must comply with Rule 28-106.204(3), F.A.C., and must include
allegations sufficient to demonstrate that the intervenor is entitled to participate in the proceeding
as a matter of constitutional or statutory right, pursuant to Florida Public Service Commission
("Commission") 	rule, 	or 	that 	the 	substantial 	interests 	of the 	intervenor 	are 	subject 	to
determination or will be affected through the proceeding. Intervenors take the case as they find
it.

ORDER NO. PSC-2024-0134-PCO-EG
DOCKET NO. 20240012-EG
PAGE 2
The test for associational standing was established in Florida Home Builders Association
v. Department of Labor and Employment Security1 and Farmworker Rights Organization, Inc. v.
Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services,2 which is based on the basic standing
principles 	established 	in 	Agrico 	Chemical 	Company 	v. 	Department 	of 	Environmental
Regulation.3 Associational standing may be found where: (1) the association demonstrates that a
substantial 	number 	of 	an 	association’s 	members 	may 	be 	substantially 	affected 	by 	the
Commission's decision in a docket; (2) the subject matter of the proceeding is within the
association’s general scope of interest and activity; and (3) the relief requested is of a type
appropriate for the association to receive on behalf of its members.4
Analysis and Ruling
Based on above representations, it appears that ECOSWF meets the associational
standing requirements of Florida Home Builders. ECOSWF has demonstrated that a substantial
number of its members may by substantially affected by the Commission’s decisions as to the
appropriate conservation goals and programs. The conservation goals in this proceeding are
within ECOSWF’s general scope of interest and activity. ECOSWF seeks to mitigate high
electric bills by the use of cost-effective energy efficiency and demand-side management
measures and programs with goals set by this proceeding, which is an appropriate relief for
ECOSWF 	to 	receive 	on 	behalf 	of 	its 	members. 	ECOSWF 	meets 	the 	requirements 	for
associational standing and will be permitted to intervene in Docket No. 20240012-EG as a party
in this proceeding. ECOSWF takes the case as it finds it.
Based on the above representations, it is
ORDERED by Commissioner Arthur Graham, as Prehearing Officer, that the Petition to
Intervene filed by Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida is hereby granted as set
forth in the body of this Order. It is further
ORDERED that Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida takes the case as it
finds it. It is further
1 Fla. Home Builders Ass’n v. Dep’t of Labor & Emp’t Sec., 412 So.2d 351 (Fla. 1982).
2 Farmworker Rights Org., Inc. v. Dep’t of Health & Rehab. Servs., 417 So.2d 753 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982).
3 Agrico Chem. Co. v. Dep’t of Envtl. Regulation, 406 So. 2d 478, 481–82 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981). Under Agrico, the
individual intervenor must show that (1) they will suffer injury in fact which is of sufficient immediacy to entitle
them to a Section 120.57, Florida Statutes (“F.S.”), hearing, and (2) this substantial injury is of a type or nature
which the proceeding is designed to protect. The first aspect of the test deals with the degree of injury. The second
deals with the nature of the injury. Id. at 482. The "injury in fact" must be both real and immediate and not
speculative or conjectural. Int’l Jai-Alai Players Ass’n v. Fla. Pari-Mutuel Comm’n, 561 So.2d 1224, 1225–26 (Fla.
3d DCA 1990); see also Vill. Park Mobile Home Ass’n, Inc. v. State Dep’t of Bus. Regulation, 506 So.2d 426, 434
(Fla. 1st DCA 1987), rev. den., 513 So.2d 1063 (Fla. 1987) (noting speculation on the possible occurrence of
injurious events was too remote).
4 Fla. Home Builders Ass’n, 412 So.2d at 353–54; Farmworker Rights Org., Inc., 417 So.2d at 754.

ORDER NO. PSC-2024-0134-PCO-EG
DOCKET NO. 20240012-EG
PAGE 3
ORDERED that all parties to this proceeding shall furnish copies of all testimony,
exhibits, pleadings, and other documents which may hereinafter be filed in this proceeding to:
Bradley Marshall
Jordan Luebkemann
EarthJustice
111 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Tallahassee, Florida 32301
bmarshall@earthjustice.org
jluebkemann@earthjustice.org
flcaseupdates@earthjustice.org
By ORDER of Commissioner Art Graham, as Prehearing Officer, this 25th day of April,
2024.
ART GRAHAM
Commissioner and Prehearing Officer
Florida Public Service Commission
2540 Shumard Oak Boulevard
Tallahassee, Florida 32399
(850) 413-6770
www.floridapsc.com
Copies furnished: 	A copy of this document is
provided to the parties of record at the time of
issuance and, if applicable, interested persons.
JDI

ORDER NO. PSC-2024-0134-PCO-EG
DOCKET NO. 20240012-EG
PAGE 4
NOTICE OF FURTHER PROCEEDINGS OR JUDICIAL REVIEW
The Florida Public Service Commission is required by Section 120.569(1), Florida
Statutes, to notify parties of any administrative hearing or judicial review of Commission orders
that is available under Sections 120.57 or 120.68, Florida Statutes, as well as the procedures and
time limits that apply. This notice should not be construed to mean all requests for an
administrative hearing or judicial review will be granted or result in the relief sought.
Mediation may be available on a case-by-case basis. If mediation is conducted, it does
not affect a substantially interested person's right to a hearing.
Any 	party 	adversely 	affected 	by 	this 	order, 	which 	is 	preliminary, 	procedural 	or
intermediate in nature, may request: (1) reconsideration within 10 days pursuant to Rule 25-
22.0376, Florida Administrative Code; or (2) judicial review by the Florida Supreme Court, in
the case of an electric, gas or telephone utility, or the First District Court of Appeal, in the case
of a water or wastewater utility. A motion for reconsideration shall be filed with the Office of
Commission Clerk, in the form prescribed by Rule 25-22.0376, Florida Administrative Code.
Judicial review of a preliminary, procedural or intermediate ruling or order is available if review
of the final action will not provide an adequate remedy. Such review may be requested from the
appropriate court, as described above, pursuant to Rule 9.100, Florida Rules of Appellate
Procedure.