www.sun-herald.com By CHRIS CURRY Staff Writer 03/05/03

Based on a spike in fuel costs, the state agency which regulates utilities approved a rate increase for Florida's three largest electric companies Tuesday. The Florida Public Service Commission will reconsider the mid-year fuel adjustment, at its regular fuel hearings in November.

"You have the largest oil strike ever in Venezuela, unusual cold weather in North America and Canada increasing demand for natural gas and the threat of war in the Middle East," PSC spokesperson Kevin Bloom said. "You put all those together, the rate adjustment was unavoidable."

Under the changes, which begin in the April billing period, Florida Power & Light residential customers, including those in Charlotte and Sarasota counties, will see a $4.75 increase from $76.85 to $81.60 for every 1,000 kilowatt hours of use. FPL commercial rates will increase 7.3 percent and industrial rates will rise 11.6 percent. Customers with Progress Energy Florida and the Tampa Electric Co. will also see rate increases.

Bloom said under state law, utility companies operate under a "straight pass-through" system and cannot make a profit.

"If during the year, the cost projections drop back down, than customers will see a refund in November," he said.

But if costs rise higher, the PSC will likely need to raise rates again at the November meeting.

Florida Public Counsel Jack Shreve, the state's advocate for all utility customers said if costs drop, the PSC should not wait until November to lower rates.

"If prices were to turn around and come down, we should turn around and get the rates down for the customers as quickly as we got them up for the companies," Shreve said. "But we don't know exactly what's going to happen. Right now, costs are significantly up all the way around and they may stay that way until we have some change in world affairs."

FPL spokesman Bill Swank said the utility's rates were highest in April 2001, when tension in the Middle East contributed to a rise to $87.98 for every 1,000 kilowatts per hour.

"We're hoping to see fuel prices go back down again," Swank said. "We understand it's real frustrating to see not only gas prices go up but electric prices as well."

Swank said since November, FPL has seen an 8-percent rise in oil prices and a 16-percent spike in the cost of natural gas. He said the company offers a number of billing and conservation options for customers, including a program which levels customer bills over a 12-month span so they do not feel the financial burden from increased use in the summer and winter months. The company also offers customers energy audits to determine if they are wasting electricity. More information on the programs can be found on the computer at www.fpl.com

FPL serves 4 million accounts in the state and approximately 8 million people.

www.tcpalm.com By David Royse The Associated Press March 5, 2003

TALLAHASSEE -- The state's three largest utilities, Progress Energy, FPL, and Tampa Electric, won approval Tuesday to increase rates to account for rising fuel costs.

Under the changes approved by the Public Service Commission, the state's utilities regulator, Florida Power & Light Co. customers would see the biggest increase, about $4.75 to make an average monthly FPL residential bill $81.60.

The increase passes higher prices for natural gas and oil on to consumers. The companies' profits won't increase because of it.

The utilities cited a cold winter in the north and a slow down in natural gas production for a spike in gas prices. They also cited rising fuel oil costs because of concerns about supply caused by an oil workers' strike in Venezuela and tension in the Middle East.

The average residential customer of Progress Energy would see their monthly bill increase by $3.36 to about $83.71.

Tampa Electric customers would see their bill go up by $4.46 on average, to $94.14 a month.

The increases will take effect next month.

Public Counsel Jack Shreve, who represents consumers before the PSC, and a coalition of large power customers, the Florida Industrial Power Users Group, both said they understood the rising cost of fuel and the need to pass the cost on. Both also urged the PSC to closely monitor fuel prices and quickly require the companies to adjust rates downward again when prices go down.

Last year, Progress and FPL both lowered rates as energy prices fell.

FPL serves 3.8 million customers in Florida, including much of South Florida and central Florida and nearly the entire east coast of the state.

Progress has 4.1 million Florida customers, with its major service areas being in the St. Petersburg area and the Orlando suburbs.

Tampa Electric serves 600,000 customers in Hillsborough County and parts of Pasco, Pinellas and Polk counties.

reuters.com Wed March 5, 2003 12:46 AM ET By Tanya Pang

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices held steady on Wednesday with key data on the health of U.S. fuel stockpiles likely to drive direction in the short-term as the United Nations continued to debate possible war in Iraq.

U.S. light crude tip-toed two cents higher to $36.91 a barrel after Tuesday's $1.01 rally in New York.

U.S. crude prices have swung in a wide range of more than $4.50 in the last five trading days after the market touched a 12-year peak at $39.99 on February 27.

The prospect of a war in oil exporter Iraq comes at a time when crude stocks in the United States are hovering at levels not seen since the mid-1970s, increasing anxiety that the world's biggest oil consumer may face a supply crunch.

Apart from lower sales from strike-bound Venezuela, which normally supplies 13 percent of U.S. imports, traders fear war in Iraq may disrupt supplies from other producers in the Middle East, which pumps about 40 percent of globally traded crude oil.

The OPEC producers cartel has sent reassurances to the market that it will cover any shortfall to world supplies should a military attack on Iraq disrupt its crude exports of some two million barrels per day.

But traders and analysts say that most members of the Middle East-dominated group are already pumping at full speed and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has little spare capacity to utilize, with the exception of kingpin producer Saudi Arabia.

"It is clear that the loss of Iraqi crude represents a real threat to the stability of the market and that its loss would be difficult to compensate for in the long term. This is where the greatest risk to the market lies," said independent oil analyst Simon Games-Thomas.

Tetsu Emori, chief strategist at Mitsui Bussan Futures in Tokyo, said: "We're looking for crude to move above $40 when the attack is launched on Iraq. Even if OPEC does increase production we still see supplies remaining tight."

The U.S. government Energy Information Administration (EIA) will release later on Wednesday its weekly status report on the health of U.S. fuel stocks, and analysts predicted crude supplies to increase slightly but for winter heating oil stocks to decrease.

In a Reuters poll, six analysts forecast U.S. crude inventories to show a rise of 1.25 million barrels as Saudi Arabia bumped up imports to its ally.

The survey showed stocks of distillates, including heating oil, falling by two million barrels with demand still running high as a severe spell of unusually cold temperatures continued.

Heating oil stocks fell below 100 million barrels last week for the first time in three years, EIA data showed.

Analysts pegged gasoline tanks declining by 500,000 barrels.

MORE TROOPS TO GULF

The United States ordered 60,000 more troops into the Gulf region on Tuesday in its preparations for a military strike on Iraq, which it says is not in full compliance with U.N. demands to disarm weapons of mass destruction.

The United States and Britain has already amassed a 250,000-strong force in the region.

Secretary of State Colin Powel said Washington was gaining support on the U.N. Security Council for a new resolution against Iraq, which at the weekend began to destroy its illegal al-Samoud 2 missiles.

Washington, backed by Britain and Spain, is meeting resistance for a new U.N. resolution permitting military force from Russia, France, China and Germany.

The United States hit a stumbling block in its preparations at the weekend when Turkey's parliament voted against the deployment of U.S. troops on its soil, which would have given access to northern Iraq.

Turkey's government said on Tuesday it was considering a second try at winning parliamentary approval.

www.tcpalm.com By Scott Samples staff writer March 5, 2003

FORT PIERCE -- They come from all over the globe, a virtual United Nations dressed in Speedos.

The handful of foreign athletes on the Indian River Community College swim team may come from different continents with different languages and cultures, but have this in common -- the pool and the desire to go fast in it.

So they leave places like Brazil, Columbia, Venezuela and as far away as South Africa to swim for the small junior-college in the United States with the big reputation for producing quality swimmers and national championships.

Today the Pioneers will begin defense of their National Junior College Athletic Association titles -- if the men win, it will be 29 consecutive championships and 20 for the women -- in what is truly a global effort.

"They have South Americans, Europeans, people from all around the world," said sophomore Camilo Becerra, a Colombian who swam for his country in the 2000 Olympic Games. "It gives foreign people a chance to come here and learn and train."

Which is why the Pioneers' roster lists swimmers from San Paulo, Brazil and Bloemfontein, South Africa, sandwiched between athletes from Vero Beach, Port St. Lucie and Stuart.

And with a small recruiting budget, IRCC relies on the swimmers themselves to replenish the supply of foreign aid.

"There's a lot of word of mouth," first-year coach Scott Kimmelman said. "You get lucky. You pick up a couple of these talented athletes. They call up their friends and say hey, we're swimming pretty well here at Indian River. Then they come up here after that."

Which is what Fernando Jacome did.

Now a freestyler at Florida State University, Jacome swam for Indian River from 2000-01. The Bucaramanga, Colombia, native swam with Becerra and knew current Pioneers freshman Carolina Sierra, and lured his countrymen to the school.

"We don't have as much support as the United States gives their athletes," said Becerra, who is already spreading the word back home about IRCC. "So you want to help (others) to compete."

But there's more to the move than simply swimming. There are different languages, foods, and ways of doing things, which can be harder for some to handle than for others.

"It wasn't much different than South Africa," Luke Wilkens said of his move. "I adapted pretty well, I didn't have any problems. I think for the (swimmers from South American countries) it would be more of a culture change."

Kimmelman, a long-time assistant at IRCC who is in his first-year as head coach, said he will often group one culture together to ease the transition. At the same time, the swimmers get immersed in American culture as part of the learning process.

"I thought it was going to be the same being here, but it's not," Sierra said. "People are totally different. At the beginning it's tough to get used to. I like it. It's just different."

One thing that doesn't change is the competition -- and not just from other teams, either. Kimmelman said he is only allowed three foreign scholarships for the men and three for the women. That frequently leaves some foreign swimmers without scholarship aid and forces them to compete with each other for it.

But the bottom line is winning, a fact that is hard to escape since each national championship team is commemorated on the walls surrounding the IRCC swimming complex.

The foreign swimmers know it, the same as the local ones. The word has been passed down to them, and they have already begun to pass it on to others back home.

"Someone helped me. I will help another," Sierra said. "We keep it going, like a chain."

-scott.samples@scripps.com

FOREIGN AID

Six swimmers who hail from outside the United States will try to help IRCC extend their dominance in National Junior College Athletic Association swimming.

Men's Team

• Teylor Arboleda, Venezuela, Fr., butterfly and individual medley
• Camilo Becerra, Colombia, So., freestyle and butterfly
• Alejandro Gomez, Venezuela, Fr., freestyle and backstroke
• Luke Wilkens, South Africa, So., freestyle and butterfly

Women's Team

• Joyce Fuhrman, Brazil, So., freestyle
• Carolina Sierra, Colombia, Fr., butterfly, backstroke and freestyle

www.chron.com March 4, 2003, 10:59PM

NEW YORK -- Crude oil futures rallied Tuesday, staging a sharp recovery after three straight sessions where prices declined on hopes that a war with Iraq could be averted.

Between Thursday and Monday, prices fell sharply as Iraq's increased cooperation with U.N. weapons inspectors and Turkey's rejection of access to U.S. troops sparked speculation that a U.S.-led attack on Iraq could be avoided, or at least delayed by several weeks.

But prices turned around Tuesday as the United States stepped up military preparations for a war and indicated it would seek U.N. Security Council approval of a resolution on military action next week, analysts said.

At the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude for April delivery rose $1.01 to end at $36.89.

April heating oil futures ended up 1.26 cents at $1.0486 a gallon, while April gasoline futures climbed 1.74 cents to settle at $1.1122 a gallon.

Natural-gas futures fell for the second day in a row as above-normal temperatures in the Midwest and East were forecast to pare heating use. Gas for April delivery retreated 12.1 cents to settle at $7.041 per thousand cubic feet.

At London's International Petroleum Exchange, April Brent futures rose 61 cents to close at $33.09 a barrel.

Exxon Mobil Chairman Lee Raymond said Tuesday the Bush administration could release emergency crude reserves if there is war with Iraq, depending on the extent of disruption to oil supply.

"It's clear if there's going to be a war, then Iraq is going to stop exporting," Raymond told analysts in New York.

"The U.S. government could release some oil from the SPR," he added, referring to the strategic petroleum reserve, "I wouldn't want to suggest to you that there will be clarity on this at all. There are a lot of what ifs' and whens.' "

Energy traders worry that an attack on Iraq could disrupt the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf.

Meanwhile, OPEC and non-OPEC oil ministers will meet next week to discuss what they could do in the event of a war in Iraq, an official from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said.

OPEC countries have increased production in recent months in response to a strike in Venezuela and soaring oil prices.

According to a Dow Jones Newswires survey, OPEC crude output jumped by 1.43 million barrels a day to 27.091 million barrels a day in February from January.