Last week, Florida Power & Light Co. killed plans to build three wind turbines on a publicly owned St. Lucie County beach - just hours before county commissioners had scheduled a vote to oppose the project. Who says the state's biggest utility can't see the light?

Now the utility can move forward with plans to build six 40-story windmills on its own oceanfront land near the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant. That should have been the approach all along. Instead, FPL tried to put another three windmills at Blind Creek Park, public land north of the nuclear plant that had been bought for preservation.

After all but Doug Coward wavered at first, tempted by money FPL would have to pay to use the property, a majority of commissioners said they would oppose using public land. State regulators said they would not approve the project over the county's opposition. Commissioners still must decide if they will approve height variances and other permits to allow the remaining six wind turbines to be built on FPL's Hutchinson Island property. The utility, which likes the site because of the 14 mph average wind speeds and transmission lines from the nuclear power plant, would build the giant turbines far from the two nuclear reactors.

The possible impact of wind turbines on birds and bats remains a concern. Audubon of Florida points out that the area is a major flyway for migratory birds. But if the 400-foot windmills can meet environmental standards, the utility should proceed with what could be a very interesting project.

The wind farm would be Florida's first, and the first in the Southeast. It would come as Gov. Crist is pushing the state's utilities to develop more renewable sources of energy. FPL estimates that the six turbines would produce 13.8 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 1,800 houses, and would add about 3 cents a month to customers' bills.

This experiment may not pay off big-time for FPL and the public. But it appears to be the right kind of experiment. And if the turbines go up, they will go up in the right place - not on land that was purchased by the public for the public to enjoy.