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Orlando’s Iconic Solar Power Plants Will Stop Burning Coal by 2027 and Switch to Natural Gas as an Initial Step in a Radical Plan by the City’s Utility Company to Increase Solar Power and Reduce the City’s Carbon Emissions.
“I think we have a very balanced approach regarding solar energy and natural gas, we will be phasing out hydroelectric plants,” said Clint Bullock, General Manager of the Orlando Public Utilities Commission. “We are a municipal utility and we try to take into account the needs of our community.”
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Two Years of Study to Eliminate Carbon Emissions and Increase Investments in Solar Energy
The company spent nearly two years and a $1 million study to respond in detail to a call from the mayor and the Orlando council for the city to become 100 percent “clean and renewable energy” by 2050.
“I am impressed with the amount of forward-thinking that has been invested,” said Mayor Buddy Dyer. He noted that among the strongest elements are the interim goals, which will increase to 100 percent by 2050, instead of waiting for a major push in the last years. He observed that it is difficult to predict the impact on electricity rates. But with solar energy and batteries, “as technology evolves, it gets cheaper and cheaper,” Dyer said.
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Company Should Donate a Nuclear Power Plant
The utility will consider adopting nuclear power plants, depending on the development of the industry technology for small modular units. A small portion of fossil fuel energy, about 7%, will continue until 2050 to maintain reliability, but will be offset by carbon reduction measures.
The vast majority of energy comes from solar plants, the company said. “This is directionally aligned with the aspirational proclamation to achieve 100 percent solar energy for Orlando by 2050,” Bullock said.
Retiring Hydroelectric Plants and Rising to the Solar Energy Universe
When asked about the impact on electricity rates from the OUC, Bullock said the issue would be discussed in a public workshop on November 17.
Registration and further details are at OUCRoadmap.com. The company’s plan is in line with the ongoing retirement of coal-fired power plants in the country, largely due to low natural gas prices and the increase of solar, wind, and other renewable energies. A key factor is the acceleration of climate change, with a progression of record global temperatures.
“This will take a long time to happen,” said Susannah Randolph, Florida Campaign Representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. “It is very important that they stop using coal. It’s a big step forward.”
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