Duke Energy Florida, LLC v. Gary F. Clark, etc., et al.

Summary

The Supreme Court of Florida reviewed a Florida Public Service Commission order denying Duke Energy Florida recovery of approximately $16 million in replacement power costs. The court held that the evidence did not establish that Duke’s imprudent operation of a steam turbine before 2012 caused the 2017 outage and derating, reversed the Commission’s order, and remanded for an order granting cost recovery.

Holdings

1. An earlier imprudence finding cannot support denial of cost recovery when the earlier operation did not cause the later outage and derating, and the utility otherwise proved that the costs were incurred notwithstanding its prudent operation after the earlier period.
2. The Commission erred in accepting causation conclusions that were factually contrary to the evidence.
3. Duke sufficiently preserved its challenge to the causation discussion by taking exception to the numbered legal conclusions containing the challenged factual assertions, even though it did not separately challenge every factual finding.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Commission properly denied Duke Energy recovery of replacement-power costs based on allegedly imprudent operation during an earlier period when the evidence did not establish that the earlier operation caused the later outage and derating.
2. Whether the Commission's adoption of factual causation conclusions was supported by competent substantial evidence.
3. Whether Duke Energy preserved its challenge to the ALJ's causation-related factual conclusions through its exceptions to the recommended order.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded