EXHIBIT 99

Florida Progress Corporation
Investor News
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Analyst Contacts:
Mark A. Myers (813) 866-4245
Greg Beuris (813) 866-4442


Florida Power Corporation Receives NRC Approval to Start Reactor
at Crystal River Nuclear Plant

St. Petersburg,  Florida, January 30, 1998 -- Florida Power Corporation received
approval from the Nuclear  Regulatory  Commission's  Region II  Administrator to
start the reactor at its Crystal River nuclear plant. The approval was the final
requirement in the NRC's March 1997 Confirmatory Action Letter, which identified
five items  Florida  Power must address  before  returning  the nuclear plant to
service.

"This is very good news," said Roy Anderson, senior vice president of Florida
Power Corporation's Energy Supply business unit.  "We are pleased to get such a
vote of confidence from the NRC.  Now we can truly put this behind us and focus
on the future."

Last week Florida  Power  received  approval  from the NRC on its final  license
submittal.  Approval  of this  submittal  allowed  Florida  Power to submit  its
request to Luis Reyes, Region II Administrator,  to restart the plant's reactor.
Florida Power  expects the nuclear plant to be back in service  within two weeks
of starting the reactor, which is currently scheduled to begin this weekend.

"Safe Harbor"  Statement under the Private  Securities  Litigation Reform Act of
1995:  this  news  release  contains  forward  looking   statements,   including
statements  regarding the restart of the nuclear plant in the near future. These
statements  involve risks and  uncertainties  that could cause actual results or
outcomes to differ materially from  expectations.  Key factors that could have a
direct impact on actual results  include  various  factors that could impact the
successful  execution  of the  restart  plan,  such as the  timing and nature of
actions by the NRC, potential new plant  modifications not foreseen at this time
which extend the outage  further and other  factors  described in the  company's
Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Florida Progress (NYSE:FPC) is a Fortune 500 diversified utility holding company
with assets of $5.8 billion.  Its principal  subsidiary  is Florida  Power,  the
state's  second-largest  electric  utility  with  about 1.3  million  customers.
Diversified operations include coal mining, marine operations, rail services and
life insurance.


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