I really appreciate your pointing out how our environment of "lazy" media (or simply cost constrained) fails to point out logical connections between paid spokespersons and industry interest lobby groups.

Florida has forcibly screwed Floridians by having the so-called "Public Service Commission" rule (under Jeb Bush and with two commission seats vacant) that electricity providers may CHARGE IT'S CUSTOMERS IN ADVANCE to build nuclear and coal burning power plants.

Progress Energy wants to build a nuke plant in Levy county but even before the ground is purchased the Public Service Commission has ruled Progress Energy can begin charging it's customers for the cost of land purchase, planning, engineering, design and construction of the nuke plant, so Progress Energy can circumvent gathering investors, raising capital, sharing the risk with stockholders, and issuing bonds. You know, the normal path of a capitalist "publicly traded" corporation. The customers of Progress Energy will NOT be issued stock, will NOT be classified as investors, will NOT see any dividends from the profits of this nuke plant, AND will NOT be reimbursed if they never see one watt of power from this nuke plant.

TECO Energy (also a publicly traded corporation) is planning a so-called new generation "clean coal" power plant in Polk County. Within a month of the Public Service commission announcement (with no fanfare) TECO made it known that they too were looking at charging existing customers to pay the investment costs of its power plant construction. No investors, no capital, no bonds. TECO's customers would be forced to foot the bill for this plant and get no return on their investment, all the risk and none of the reward.

Isn't it nice that the state of Florida feels it's citizens do not have rights to decline investing in publicly traded corporations and forced to subsidize publicly traded corporations and that those publicly traded corporations now have an unlimited piggy bank of capital outlay at hand with NO COST to the corporation.

This is capitalism? This is government? This is another ENRON style energy theft.