OUC set for ‘whole new era’ in solar
Orlando’s utility is poised for a historic shift to solar as a standard source of power.
The Orlando Utilities Commission and a cooperative of other municipal utilities propose to build two or three solar plants that will each generate 74.5 megawatts, which is vastly more than any solar system now serving Orlando. Construction would start in 2020.
“This is a whole new era,” said OUC’s Linda Ferrone, vice president for sustainability. “This represents us really moving the needle.”
The deal, which would acquire solar electricity for about the same cost as electricity from coal or natural gas, is up for a decision this afternoon by OUC’s board. Rates would not rise because of the plants, according to the utility.
OUC has several solar plants that combined put out about 20
megawatts. That modest production, meeting a small fraction of Orlando’s demand, has enabled the cityowned utility to develop expertise with solar energy.
“We have learned, and we know what to expect and how to negotiate deals like this,” said Byron Knibbs, OUC vice president for emerging technology. “Now and in the future, OUC will be doing largescale solar.”
Plants able to crank out 74.5 megawatts have been refined by Florida Power & Light Co., the state’s largest utility, which is building eight of the plants at a cost of more than $100 million each.
Solar plants generating fewer than 75 megawatts do not require approval by the state’s Public Service Commission.
For OUC, a 74.5-megawatt plant would be significant.
The utility has about 250,000 power customers. Of those, nearly 160,000 are household customers; one of the 74.5-megawatt plants could light as many as 15,000 homes.
To bring about the venture, OUC has joined with the Florida Municipal Power Agency, which is owned by 31 city utilities. Of those, nearly a dozen are in discussions over participating in the solar deal.
Spokesman Mark McCain said his agency will try to work out agreements with member utilities during the next month.
The agency has only a negligible amount of solar energy now, a tiny plant in Key West.
“This large-scale joint effort enables us to provide the most cost-effective way to add solar for customers,” general manager and CEO Jacob Williams said.
Depending on the extent of involvement by the Florida Municipal Power Agency, the solar deal would be for two or three plants.
With two plants, OUC would get 60 megawatts; with three plants, Orlando would get 120 megawatts, or enough for about 15 percent of OUC residential customers.
The plants would not technically be owned by OUC or the Florida Municipal Power Agency; they would be built, managed and owned by NextEra Energy Florida Renewables LLC.
That company, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy, as is FPL, also would provide sites as large as 500 acres for each plant in rural Orange or Osceola counties. Each plant would utilize as many as 350,000 solar panels. No locations have been identified yet, although OUC has specified that they be near high-voltage lines.
“NextEra will provide the property,” OUC’s Knibbs said. “This is a compete package.”
If three plants are built, OUC estimates it would pay $224 million for the electricity they would generate in 20 years of operation.
A similar amount of electricity from coal or natural gas would cost about the same, Ferrone said.
The cost of electricity from the solar plants, however, would be locked in.
“We look at it as a good fuel hedge,” Ferrone said. “We do know now what solar is going to cost for the next 20 years. We don’t know what natural gas or coal might cost for the next year 20 years.”
Last year, Mayor Buddy Dyer and the City Council set a goal to end the city’s reliance on coal and natural gas by 2050.
The proposed solar plants raise the possibility that OUC could significantly delay the need to increase the use of fossil fuel.
“We plan on doing a 100-percent-renewables study to answer that question,” Ferrone said. “Anybody can answer that off the cuff, but it’s going to take quite a bit of science to put that sort of forecast together.”