Power was back as of midday Friday for all but 13,735 homes and businesses in Florida, primarily in four counties that were hit hardest by Hurricane Irma on Sept. 10 and Sept. 11, according to the state Division of Emergency Management.
Dealing with wrecked belongings and reports of toxic muck, residents of a tiny town where Florida’s Everglades meet the Gulf of Mexico cleared their homes Monday in scorching 92 F (33 C) heat with no air conditioning and no electricity except from a few generators.
More than 5.5 million homes and businesses in Florida remained without power at midday Tuesday after Hurricane Irma plowed through the state. The top to return to homes was underway in most areas outside the storm-ravaged lower Florida Keys.
Florida was approved Sunday for federal disaster relief as the powerful, wide and deadly Hurricane Irma made its second landfall of the day. And the system might still be more than a day from leaving the state.
On a sunny day in Florida, I watched the American flag rise and fly over hundreds of acres of solar cells. It was an amazing experience to think the million panels I was looking at in Manatee County were replacing energy from conventional fuel combustion plants. Yet this solar field feeding directly into the power grid was not using any water nor emitting pollution. I could not have been more excited. In recent years, Florida has increasingly lived up to its…
Some of the biggest companies involved in battles at the state Capitol showered campaign contributions to the state’s political parties and other top politicians in the first few months of the year. Newly filed campaign finance reports show that the Republican Party of Florida raised $2.46 million during the first quarter of the year, while a separate GOP campaign committee that raises money for state Senate candidates raised $1.43 million. The Florida Democratic Party raised slightly more than $843,000 during…
Legislation that would bring new measures of accountability to Florida’s Public Service Commission passed a House Committee on Tuesday. Pinellas Republican Kathleen Peters’s bill (HB 7071) would create performance-based incentives for utilities by rating their reliability, customer service, power plant performance and costs. It also would bar lawmakers from serving on the commission within six years of leaving the Legislature. The five commissioners, who are appointed by the governor, would represent different regions of the state and be limited to two four-year…
