Opinion - Renewable energy: Governor's goal is a tough one

Jacksonville.com (Florida)
Story updated at 11:15 AM on Monday, Feb. 2, 2009

Recently, the Florida Public Service Commission backed a plan that would require Florida utilities to generate 20 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020. Does it stand a chance of being reached?

Florida electric utilities can generate about 54,000 megawatts. Of that total a little more than 1,000 megawatts comes from renewable sources, almost all from biomass, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

To reach the 20 percent goal will require installing about 9,000 megawatts of new power plants and retiring a similar amount of existing generating capacity. Or, assuming the need for additional generation capacity, installing a larger amount of renewable capacity to meet the 20 percent goal.

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