A St. Cloud entrepreneur dreams of building wind turbines and a desalination plant 20 miles off the Port Canaveral shoreline, simultaneously generating electricity and drinking water. Ideally, this cluster of 50 to 100 windmills also would attract a bustling ecological habitat for fishing and diving -- and perhaps even an offshore casino. ...To date, no potential public- or private-sector partners have emerged. Hurley hopes to recruit a team of business leaders.

County Commissioner Doug Coward thinks rooftop solar panels are a better idea than the six 400-foot wind turbines Florida Power & Light Co. plans for South Hutchinson Island. "Why don't we take that $5 million (in subsidies for the turbines) away from a project that is ill-fated and actually shift it into trying to do widespread rooftop solar?" Coward asked during a Tuesday night commission meeting. "Maybe do it on a demonstration in St. Lucie."

Large-scale power from the sun is finally gaining traction in Florida. And FPL is building solar plants in its home state, for the first time in the company's 79-year history. ...Though solar power is an expanding part of Florida Power & Light's agenda, the three new plants will generate far less power than conventional sources. After the three natural-gas units at West County Energy Center are complete in 2011, they will produce 3,750 megawatts of power - 34 times as much electricity as all three solar plants combined.

Florida Power & Light's sister company is the biggest producer of wind power in the country, but the utility can't seem to get a wind project off the ground in its home state. FPL's proposal to build a wind farm on a barrier island in St. Lucie County has languished in the halls of county government since it was filed in 2007. Nearby residents have called the 400-foot-tall turbines eyesores and questioned their impact on Hutchinson Island's shoreline.

A proposal to require privately owned Florida utilities to generate more power from renewable and nuclear sources sailed through a Senate committee Tuesday even as it came under fire from all sides. The changes would be funded by a 2 percent increase in electricity rates and a 1-cent-a-gallon increase in the gas tax. ...The idea faces an uncertain future in the House.

A proposal to put up wind turbines along one of Southwest Florida's most prestigious beaches is getting mixed reaction. A Naples city councilman wants them on the city's beach front mansions. Others say no way! ...That's why he wants the city to allow small wind turbines to be placed on the rooftops of beachfront homes in the city.

As Congress gets ready to parcel out billions of dollars to create what President Obama likes to call "green collar jobs," energy analysts warn of the dangers of a rush into territory already littered with failed investments. "Yes, there's gold in green," said Susan Glickman, southern regional director for the Climate Group, which builds bridges between business and government to promote a cleaner planet. "But not all green is gold."

Florida electric companies would have to rely on an increasingly heavy mix of wind, solar and biomass to generate their power over the next 11 years, under a proposed rule state regulators voted to send to the Legislature late Thursday. Calling their decision ''historic,'' the Florida Public Service Commission unanimously voted to send the Legislature the proposal that calls for 20 percent of their fuel mix to come from renewable energy sources by 2020.

Santa Rosa County is partnering with Gulf Power to place a wind meteorological station at the far east end of Navarre Beach in the new county park to measure wind velocity. "We know we have minimal wind here," county commissioner Gordon Goodin said. "But we won't know if we have enough to try to use wind turbines out there to save taxpayer costs in the future with Gulf Power until we get some measurements.

In a much anticipated report that could affect every Floridian's pocketbook, a consultant hired by the state says solar power could be a competitive source of electricity by 2020 in many scenarios, but it will cost considerably more than new nuclear power and natural gas, the main sources of power for present customers of Florida Power & Light. Biomass -- things like plant waste, wood chips and garbage -- will be a financially viable source in all scenarios, but wind isn't likely to be much of a factor in Florida.

The first draft of a report commissioned by state regulators says one kind of solar power and off-shore wind have great potential as sources of renewable energy in Florida, but land-based wind and another kind of solar have almost no future in the state. ...Land-based wind energy -- now the largest renewable energy source by far in the United States -- does not seem commercially viable in Florida, the report said.

For years, the utility has said solar is not an economical option because there is not enough sunshine or land. Likewise, there is not enough wind to spin a turbine. That thinking is about to change, and business for FPL - and all of the state's energy providers - will never be the same. Gov. Charlie Crist's pledge to lower greenhouse-gases is forcing Florida's utilities to go green. ...If regulators allow nuclear power to be included in the definition of renewable energy, FPL could count the power produced by its two nuke plants in Florida. That would put FPL's renewable energy production around 19.4 percent - within a fraction of the governor's target.

Florida Power & Light officials told state regulators today that nuclear power should join solar and wind as a renewable energy source in Florida. "I think the goal, the intent is to have the most material impact on greenhouse gases," said Eric E. Silagy, FPL's chief development officer in explaining why Florida's Public Service Commission should reconsider the definition. Since nuclear power plants do not burn fuel, there are virtually no air emissions, such as greenhouse gases that may contribute to global warming, according to FPL's Web site.

A crucial argument about the best way to combat global warming comes down to two alternatives that may seem deceptively simple: • Force utilities to make a certain percentage of electricity from renewable resources, such as solar and wind. • Make utilities pay a stiff fine for the greenhouse gases they produce from coal and natural gas, then let the utilities figure out the most economical way of reducing their emissions. ...The debate boils down to three key points: Are renewable standards the best way to deal with greenhouse gases? How expensive are renewables, particularly in the Southeast? And what's the best renewable for Florida?

Environmental concerns assumed center stage at a "Green Forum" for County Commission candidates Friday night. About 60 people heard office seekers for Districts 3 and 5 answer a series of questions posed by Indian Riverkeeper Kevin Stinnette and designed to elicit their positions on conservation issues. Whether Republican or Democrat, most were in essential agreement. They oppose the construction of wind turbines on Hutchinson Island, support tax breaks and expedited permitting for builders using eco-friendly construction and realize the need for early education to arm citizens with the facts about global warming.

FPL Group Inc., the largest U.S. producer of wind power, said second-quarter profits fell 48 percent on a drop in the valuation of energy contracts. Its net income declined to $209 million, or 52 cents a share, from $405 million, or $1.01, a year earlier. Revenue fell 8.8 percent to $3.59 billion. FPL Energy, the alternative energy arm of the company, reported a decrease in net income of 98.5 percent to $3 million in the second quarter from $203 million last year. The net income of Florida Power & Light Co., which provides electricity for 4.5 million customers in Florida, increased by 2.8 percent to $217 million from $211 million.

FPL reportedly kept about $1 million to administer the program, and passed the rest along to a subcontractor, Texas-based Green Mountain Energy, to manage it. "We're going to take a close look at how the money was spent," commission spokeswoman Cindy Muir said Thursday. More than 38,000 customers voluntarily contributed to the program for nearly five years. Participating FPL residential and commercial customers made $9.75 monthly contributions to promote the development of renewable energy.

It's yet another economic indicator - as if Florida's tepid economy needs one. Customer growth at the state's largest utility, Florida Power & Light Co., has dropped 79 percent during the past year. And an increasing percentage of existing FPL customers are using extremely low amounts of electricity - a sign that more homes are sitting empty across the state, executives say.

State regulators Tuesday terminated a Florida Power & Light voluntary green energy program because three-fourths of the money customers were donating went to marketing and administrative costs. By a unanimous vote, the Public Service Commission ended FPL's Sunshine Energy Program in which 39,000 customers have voluntarily added $9.75 to their monthly electric bill so that FPL could purchase renewable energy. FPL in turn contracted with a Texas company, Green Mountain Energy, to carry out the program. PSC staff have been trying for months to find out where the money went, but all it could learn was that 24 percent was going to purchase renewable energy. ...[Commissioner Nathan] Skop said the program was "a lot of marketing hype but very little of substance.''

County officials are pushing forward to find an independent consultant to review Florida Power & Light Co.'s environmental impact study on wind turbines and expect to have a proposal in hand by the end of next week, said County Administrator Doug Anderson. The county has a contract with Taylor Engineering Inc. of Jacksonville. Anderson said Taylor Engineering would contract with consultants who can review FPL's studies on its wind turbine project and can provide the county with its own expert view on wind turbines. County officials estimate the independent review could take up to three months to complete. Once the consultant's findings are complete, FPL's proposal would go to a public hearing.