Florida Study on the Potential for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

April 2005

Florida could produce $420 million in tradable renewable energy credits by 2014 according to a new study published in January by the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC). FSEC concludes that the savings potential from renewable energy and energy efficiency is very large:

• 25 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity saved
• 1,700 megawatts (MW) of new generation capacity would be avoided
• Consumer savings of $450 million
• Fuel imports from outside the state would drop by $1.2 billion
• 126,000 new jobs from this activity.

FSEC director James Fenton presented these numbers to the Senate Energy Committee of the Florida Legislature in February, along with business as usual projections for energy consumption. Fenton explained that current projections are for electric utilities to generate 75 billion kWh more in 2014 than they did in 2004, an increase of 32%. However, Fenton says future power consumption could be dramatically reduced within the residential sector, which is responsible for more than half of the total, by aggressively pursuing energy efficiency improvements in homes.

Read the FSEC report titled Potential of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Savings to Impact Florida's Energy Use in 2014.