Coal plant not the only way, some say

Rick Wolfarth says he doesn't worry if his electric service goes out - he still has lights and can take a hot shower.

Wolfarth, who lives in Leon County off Buck Lake Road, gets power from Talquin Electric Cooperative. He also has a solar water heater and photoelectric panels that help reduce his energy bill and provide backup service.

"It's always charged up and ready to roll," Wolfarth said. "In case of a power emergency, I have hot water and lights for days."

Solar energy and conservation wasn't just a fad of the 1970s, like bell bottoms and velour shirts, some environmentalists say. Various conservation measures, along with renewable energy supplies, can help meet Tallahassee's future energy needs.

The city's announcement on June 2 that it is considering entering a partnership to build a coal-fired power plant in Taylor County caught many environmentalists by surprise. Some had just begun meeting with city officials to discuss Tallahassee's energy future.

Environmentalists say burning coal contributes to global warming, heart disease, asthma and mercury contamination in fish.

Mayor John Marks said last week he wants to begin a public dialogue on the city's energy needs. The city already is a year into a study to determine how to meet future power needs.

Tallahassee is using standard industry measures of economics and performance to narrow the list of potential energy alternatives being studied. Those measures have excluded renewable energy supplies, including wind and solar, from further analysis.

Cost savings, reliability

Wolfarth says his home solar-energy system helps him avoid using energy from polluting sources. But he likes it mostly because it's reliable - even when it rains.

He estimates that his home electric bill is about one-third to half of what it would be without the system. The system cost him about $10,000.

Wolfarth said he doesn't think his home-energy system is for everyone.

"People are not going to pay the initial investment," he said. "Plus, they need to be maintained and looked after."

Al Simpler, owner of Simpler Solar Systems Inc. in Tallahassee, said solar-energy systems can be used at many homes and businesses to eliminate need for a new power plant.

Homeowners could reduce their electric bills to $15 a month, but they would have to pay up to $25,000 for photovoltaic cells and solar water-heating systems, Simpler said.

"We have the ability to do it right here locally," Simpler said. "And I think that is what everyone wants to see happen."

The city's announcement that it is interested in the possible coal plant has touched off a storm of discussion and activity among environmentalists about possible alternatives.

A new group called the Big Bend Climate Action Team issued a statement calling on Tallahassee to delay a decision on any future power supplies until the city's study is completed. Group members said they met with city officials in May to discuss clean energy supplies and then were surprised by the coal announcement.

"I think we have the time to do this right and sit down and figure out what makes sense and what doesn't," said Deb Swim, a group member and former energy advocate for the Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation in Tallahassee.

The city perspective

City officials said they and their consulting firm, Black & Veatch, have studied 26 types of potential power-supply sources, including 12 types of renewable energy.

But they are recommending only three types of power units to receive further review.

Those new units include two kinds of gas units and a 250-megawatt coal plant. The City Commission in March approved moving ahead with the analysis of those technologies.

Last October, the commission agreed to study new power sources based on their economic benefits and performance.

And based on those criteria, "renewables hardly ever make the cut," said Gary Brinkworth, strategic-planning manager at the city's electric utility.

Only technologies that are certain to be permitted and built were allowed to receive further analysis, he said.

Offshore wind farms were not considered because it's not certain they could be permitted, said Brinkworth, who is on a new state power industry working group that has just begun studying the technology. There's not enough wind onshore in Florida to produce energy, Brinkworth said.

A solar plant didn't make the cut because it produced less than 1 percent of the energy the city needs, Brinkworth said.

Environmentalists have touted coal gasification as less polluting than other coal plants. But the city's study found that there are too few plants in operation to make it a dependable technology.

"You wouldn't want to get to the end of this (study) and take technologies to the commission you could not actually build," Brinkworth said.

The city also studied 190 home and business-conservation measures, including solar water heaters and systems that allow the city to turn off major appliances in homes when power use peaks.

But those conservation measures were not included in the final screening, Brinkworth said, because they could cause some customers to have to pay more for others' savings.

Utility officials say they again will consider some of those alternatives after a major new energy source has been identified.

Other municipal utilities, such as JEA in Jacksonville, have set aggressive goals for using renewable energy. JEA has lower utility rates already, boosted by heavier coal use, Brinkworth said.

Tallahassee, which relies on more costly natural gas, had set a goal in the 1990s of getting 10 percent of its energy from renewable energy, but it later dropped that goal.

"In Tallahassee the City Commission has not set a renewables goal," Brinkworth said. "What they told us instead is, 'We want you to do renewables that made economic sense for our customer.'"

No site picked yet

Tallahassee officials said they don't want to give the impression that the city's energy future has been decided.

The city has just begun looking into whether it will participate in the proposed coal plant in Taylor County. A site for the plant hasn't been picked.

And if the City Commission decides to take a closer look at solar, wind power or some other source of renewable energy, then it could be put back into the study, Brinkworth said.

Mayor Marks said on a WFSU-FM radio call-in show on Thursday that there needs to be a "balanced debate and discussion" on energy issues. He was not available for comment Friday.

"There are people out there vitally concerned about the environment," Marks said. "There are people out there vitally concerned about high utility bills as well. If we don't address both of them, I think we are being imprudent."