Changing economics in the coming decade will make renewable energy options more feasible financially, but the time to make investments in those alternatives is now, Clean Energy Congress delegates learned Monday.
For 20 years the power rate in Florida averaged 8 cents per kilowatt hour, but by 2009 it had risen to 12.4 cents per kWh. Fenton forecasts a climb to 21 cents per kWh by 2020. However, he said he believes the state can produce 20 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020, provided the effort to develop those sources begins now. That's the goal of a proposed renewable portfolio standard, which would expand the role of clean-energy alternatives.
"It's cost effective tomorrow, but you have to make the investment today," he told the gathering. His projections put that investment at 42 cents per month per household, but by 2020 the savings would amount to $9.28 per month.
Alternative energy developers, environmental groups, homeowners and business associations were among those assembled in the House chamber at the Capitol to review the state's clean-energy options and what policies would further their development.
Fenton noted that Florida spends more than $60 billion a year on all the various fossil fuels it requires. More production of power from materials produced here would keep more of those dollars in the state' economy.
To achieve an economy with a reduced carbon output, engineer and researcher Etan Gumerman of Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environment agreed that consumers will see energy costs climb, "but it shouldn't be a deal breaker — only 4 percent or so over the next 10 years," he said of his projections.
If more efficient energy alternatives are pursued and costs decline over the coming decade, he said there could be a 15-percent savings over an energy economy that sticks with "business as usual."
The Clean Energy Congress continues today. The event is a program of the Florida Business Network for a Clean Energy Economy, a coalition of business leaders in Florida working to further the transition to a clean energy economy.
"We must stop getting our energy needs met in unsustainable ways," said Susan Glickman, director of the network and chair of the congress.
