A House committee overlooked opposition by residential and commercial utility customers Tuesday and approved a proposal sought by Florida Power & Light to allow the company to expand its rate base by charging customers for investments in natural gas fracking operations in other states.

The bill, HB 1043 by Rep. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, would give the Florida Public Service Commission the authority to allow utilities that generate at least 65 percent of their electricity using natural gas to invest in oil and natural gas exploration, including fracking. It was approved by the Florida House Subcommittee on Energy and Utilities.

Although FPL is the only utility that could meet the criteria to qualify for the program this year, Duke Energy Florida, Inc., and Gulf Power Company are expected to qualify in the near future, if the bill is approved, according to an analysis by the House staff.

It would also be the first time in the nation that a utility company would be allowed to shift the risk of an exploratory drilling to customers, instead of shareholders, without determining whether each investment is prudent, the analysis said.

The uncertainty of the risk and the burden on customers drew opposition from the Florida Retail Federation, the Florida Industrial Power Users Group, the AARP, the Sierra Club and other environmental groups.

"Consumers could be on the hook for potentially large programs that produce no natural gas,'' said Jack McRay, lobbyist for AARP. He said FPL receives "among the highest rate of return of any utility in this country" so the company should have the capital needed to make the investment without charging customers up front.

Sam Forrest, vice president of energy marketing and trade for FPL, said utilities currently purchase natural gas at market prices and fuel markets are volatile and "while we hope natural gas prices will remain low, hope is not a strategy" and "customers are not protected by the risk of rising prices."

He suggested the project was a good investment for customers because the company currently spends about $3.6 billion on natural gas investment and "instead of being fully beholden to out of state corporations, we'd be able to take control of a small portion of our gas."

He called it a "common sense" proposal that removes the middle man in terms of natural gas investments, and that opponents are cherry-picking the facts.

Rep. Lori Berman, D-West Palm Beach, asked Forrest if the investment was so solid for the company, why it wasn't willing to do it without charging ratepayers.

Forrest said the program is operating now on behalf of the shareholders "which we're thrilled with" but the company wouldn't make the $180 million to $190 million investment on behalf of ratepayers without approval of PSC.

Rep. Eric Eisnaugle, R-Orlando, said that response "struck a bad cord to me" because it demonstrated FPL has already decided to hedge its fuel costs by investing in natural gas fracking but it wants its customers, not shareholders, to pay for it.

"The folks paying the bill are against it and that's a pretty good argument,'' he said, before voting against the bill. "In 15 to 20 years, are we even going to be using more natural gas? I don't think anybody knows. But we'll still be paying for it."

The bill overturns a court ruling that rejected FPL's attempt to get the fracking investment approved by the Florida Public Service Commission.