1A SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013 | YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SINCE 1874 | $1.00 Lake City Reporter LAKECITYREPORTER.COM Class reveals Fresh snacks SUNDAY EDITION inner workings for kids at two of community. 1C local schoools. 1D County Pipeline worries rise school FPL hires company to build project; grades Ichetucknee in path. down By JIM SAUNDERS and AMANDA WILLIAMSON Local rankings TALLAHASSEE — Saying the parallel results state needs another source of natural gas, Florida Power and around state. Light Co. contracted on Friday with two companies to extend a By AMANDA WILLIAMSON natural gas pipeline through 16
[email protected] Florida counties and potentially across the Ichetucknee River — As a collection of chang- despite growing area concern for es swept the Florida school the Columbia County spring. grading system this year, Combined, the pipelines would Columbia County saw a cost more than $3.5 billion and drop in preliminary school will bring natural gas from a facil- grades for elementary and ity in Alabama to a hub in Osceola middle schools, according County and then deliver part of it to a report released Friday to an FPL power plant in Martin by the Florida Department County. Officials said the pipe- of Education. lines also would offer gas sup- Statewide, the number of plies to other electric utilities and schools receiving F grades industries, with FPL an “anchor” d o u b l e d , customer. while the The plans come as FPL and number of other electric utilities become A schools increasingly dependent on natural p l u n g e d gas to fuel power plants.