By David Jenkins, Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship
When it comes to Florida state officials, the lyrics from an old Sam Cooke song come to mind: “Don’t know much about … ,” but instead of “history,” the word here is “energy.” And that would be putting it mildly. Mind-numbing ignorance would be a more accurate description, and Floridians are paying the price with skyrocketing utility bills and unbearable insurance costs.
In fact, in 2023 Florida’s energy bills were the fourth highest in the nation.
One problem is that most Florida decision-makers either don’t understand, or are unwilling to acknowledge, the basic fundamentals of today’s energy market. While that market, both in the U.S. and globally, has changed dramatically over the past decade, the attitudes of Florida’s officials have not.
Energy sources that used to be the cheapest, like coal and natural gas, have gotten much more expensive, while sources that used to be cost prohibitive, like solar, wind and nuclear, are now often the cheapest.
There are a few reasons for this change. First, our remaining coal and natural gas-fired power plants are old — between 30 and 50 years old — and cost much more to maintain and operate than they used to.
Also, because we now export roughly 13% of U.S. natural gas overseas — and that percentage is expected to double by 2028 — gas prices here are not only increasing, they are becoming more volatile. Just like with gasoline, natural gas is now a global commodity, and its price can suddenly spike due to events halfway around the world.
By contrast, the price of solar is cheap and getting cheaper. In sunny states, solar-generated electricity can be half or a third the price of electricity from gas. Wind energy is also much cheaper than gas.
The fact that Florida’s utilities rely on natural gas for 74% of the state’s electricity generation is a loser for ratepayers. As gas prices go up, so will electric bills.
The smart thing is for the Sunshine State to aggressively diversify its energy mix, relying less on natural gas — a fuel predicted to more than triple in price by 2040 — and more on cheap, price stable solar-generated electricity.
Instead, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida lawmakers are doubling down on natural gas, enacting a new law that makes it harder for utilities to retire old gas plants, blocks localities from reducing their reliance on natural gas and kills grant programs to encourage renewable energy and more efficient technologies.
At the same time the folks DeSantis appointed to the Public Service Commission (PSC) have been rubberstamping practically every utility-requested rate hike that comes before them. We might as well rename the PSC “Rate Hikes R Us.”
This is a big reason the state’s biggest monopoly utility, Florida Power & Light (FPL), continues to see its profits increase every year. In fact, FPL brings in more revenue ($9.4 billion) from residential customers than any other utility in the nation.
FPL has long been known as a cash cow for its parent company NextEra, which between 2021 and 2023 — just two short years — saw its operating revenue jump from $17 billion to more than $28 billion. And thanks to the PSC, much of that windfall came direct from the wallets of Floridians.
And the craziness doesn’t stop there. Several proposals were introduced in the state legislature targeting electric vehicle (EV) owners with punitive registration fees and battery deposits. The misinformation-based excuses included that EV owners need to “pay more for highways” and “reimburse fire departments for vehicle fires.”
In reality, Florida is so heavily reliant on toll roads for highway revenue, every car owner — electric or otherwise — already contributes. Also, studies have found that EV’s are 60 times less likely to catch on fire than gasoline-powered cars.
Luckily, none of those new taxes crossed the finish line, but EV opponents like state Sen. Ed Hooper (R-21) will likely try again. Although he may want to take note that 60% of EV owners in Florida are either Republican or independent.
Beyond these ever-increasing energy costs, this ignorance is fueling climate impacts like record heat, flooding and stronger hurricanes. It’s hampering storm resilience too. This is the primary reason Florida’s insurance industry is a total basket case, with rates through the roof and coverage hard to come by.
Floridians deserve better, way better.
David Jenkins is president of Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship, a national organization with more than 10,000 members in Florida.
If you are interested in submitting an opinion piece to The Invading Sea, email Editor Nathan Crabbe at ncrabbe@fau.edu. Sign up for The Invading Sea newsletter by visiting here.
Thank you for saying what needs to be said!
Republican elected officials make all decisions to benefit corporations and the rich. They do not care if the average citizen benefits. If we do not stop using fossil fuels by 2030 than Nature will start removing us from the gene pool. It will not end until we are extinct.