Q&A of the Day – How FPL Generates Power 

Q&A of the Day – How FPL Generates Power  

Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.  

Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com  

Gettr, Parler & Twitter: @brianmuddradio  

iHeartRadio: Use the Talkback feature – the microphone button on our station’s page in the iHeart app.     

Today’s entry: Submitted via talkback 

Bottom Line: This isn’t the first time I’ve received a question about where our electricity is coming from in Florida, and it’s not the first time I’ve addressed it. Most recently I analyzed this in February of last year in a Q&A. That said, it’s a great question and there’s a lot that’s been changing with power generation in the state of Florida. When I last addressed this the question pertained to power production in the state generally, as opposed to FPL specifically. I’ll start there because it tells a story of just how quickly power generation is changing, commonly away from traditional fuel sources & towards more environmentally friendly methods.  

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Here are the facts about Florida’s power.  

• Florida’s now the 2nd leading producer of power nationally  
• 73% of Florida’s power is derived from natural gas (-2% yoy) 
• 12% from nuclear power (flat) 
• 6% from coal (-3% yoy) 
• 7% from renewables led by solar (+3% yoy) 
• Petroleum (1% - +1%) 

What’s interesting about this is we can see that over the last year Florida’s utility companies as a whole have reduced traditional fuel sources used to generate power by a net 4%, replacing it with renewables – mostly in the form of solar. 4% might not sound like a lot, but in the grand scheme of Florida’s power generation which is the 2nd largest in the country – with ever growing demand – from significant population growth, making that big of a shift seamlessly inside of a year is a pretty big deal. So now about what’s happening with FPL. Here’s how their power is specifically generated (as of the end of last year): 

• 78% Natural Gas 
• 12% Nuclear 
• 10% Solar 

So, we see FPL’s use of nat gas is above state average, while their use of nuclear power is right in line with the state average. Meanwhile FPL isn’t using any coal or petroleum power generation and is using 3% more renewable energy (solar), a figure that’s 43% better than the average of all Florida utility companies. So, FPL’s enviro friendly messaging is backed up by what’s actually happening compared to the industry within Florida and across the country. On that note, of large utility companies nationally, FPL currently ranks 2nd nationally in overall energy efficiency as measured by the US Department of Energy.  

Coming into this decade FPL announced their 30-by-30 plan of converting 30% of their power generation over to solar by 2030. The last major update we heard regarding FPL’s decade long project was last summer when they announced they were already 40% of their way towards the solar project buildout necessary to meet the 2030 objective. At last word FPL had 42 solar energy centers scattered throughout the state so it's evident consistent conversion from natural gas to solar will continue at FPL ongoing.