Interview: Catherine Stempien

Catherine Stempien President Duke Energy Florida

What advances have been made regarding the company’s clean energy projects in the region?

We are still in the process of building 700 megawatts of solar in our system and that will be completed by 2022. We are making significant progress on that. We are either operating or in the construction phase for about half of those megawatts. We brought two new solar plants online in December, at Lake Placid and Trenton, and we have two being completed in the first half of this year in Fort White and DeBary, with two others just announced in North Florida. The other area where we have really made progress is in battery storage. We have said that we are going to build 50 megawatts worth of battery projects, and we have made announcements for three of these projects located in Trenton, Cape San Blas and Jennings. Often, people think about batteries as the connection between our solar farm and a battery. The battery charges when the sun is up and when the sun is down the battery discharges that energy. But batteries can do much more for our system. We have been testing a lot of cases for battery use, and the projects that we are going to be doing will help improve reliability for our customers, giving them more reliable power.

How is the company ensuring customers get the energy they need?

Our customers want power, and they want that power to stay on 24/7. We are midway through deploying our selfhealing grid technology. About 50% of Pinellas County is covered by this technology now. If you think about the electric grid as a highway system, when you have a traŸc jam somewhere in that system you want Waze or Google Maps to redirect you around that traŸc jam. The grid works the same way: if we have an outage, or a tree falls down on a line, you want to be able to redirect the power around that problem to make sure that people can get their energy. This technology does that automatically. We have sensors and communications devices all over our grid that automatically reroute the power and minimizes the problem, reducing the number of customers impacted. stormwater pump stations, pipes and other failing infrastructure. The initiative would be funded by increased water rates that could exponentially increase costs for the end users.

In his proposal, DeSantis requested more than $625 million for environmental projects for Florida’s state budget, including $122 million for wastewater and stormwater grants. Another way St. Petersburg is funding sewer pipe repairs is by changing legislation that allows authorities to order residents to repair issues on their own property. But one initiative that is sorely lacking in Tampa’s water funding is public-private collaboration.

Electricity The electricity sector has much more private sector investment, which is clear from the innovative initiatives being rolled out across the Tampa Bay region

118,400 out of 174,100 jobs in alternative energy were related to energy savings.

as well as the funds being invested. In 2018, NextEra Energy signed an agreement to buy Gulf Power and Florida City Gas from Southern Co. in a deal valued at $6.5 billion, which would add almost 500,000 clients to NextEra’s customer base.

But despite private sector involvement, Tampa’s electricity sector is sometimes not reliable enough. In January 2020, almost 35,000 Pinellas county customers were left in the dark after swathes of electricity outages. Pinellas County Criminal Justice Center was affected and six schools had to close in the tract between the St Pete-Clearwater airport and the Historic Old Northeast neighbourhood.

Alternative energies With even conventional power generation methods susceptible to failure, this is when alternative energy

generation looks more attractive, and utilities are embracing a move toward cleaner energy sources. Particularly, solar energy has taken the spotlight because of the high solar irradiation levels across the state of Florida, bringing costs down to competitive levels. In fact, new electric power is being generated by solar at lower cost than could have been attained by plants burning natural gas. “It is vital for everyone to work toward clean energy solutions. We take pride in being subject-matter experts and understanding what our customers need. CNG and liquid natural gas (LNG), while more environmentally friendly than traditional petroleum options, may not be suitable for all modes of transportation. There is room for electric and hydrogen technologies too, so we need to understand which technologies pair better with which fuel source and the impact that has on the environment,” said Anddrikk Frazier, president & CEO of Integral Energy.

Forida is the Sunshine State, but solar energy has only recently started to gain traction.

In October, Tampa Electric received approval from the state to build two large solar-power projects in Hillsborough County – one 74.8-megawatt project and a 74.5-megawatt project, with both expected to begin operating this year. Florida Power & Light’s 30 by 30 project plans 30 million solar panels by 2030 and TECO has installed a 55 MW solar project between Bartow and Lakeland.

The irony of solar finally gaining prominence isn’t lost on some, as Ward Friszolowski, president of Harvard Jolly, pointed out in an interview with Invest:. “One of the more exciting new technologies is solar. Everyone is talking about Florida being the Sunshine State and wondering why we haven’t been focusing on this up until now. The reality is that the return on investment has not really been there until now, and now we are on the cusp of huge demand. But at the same time, we still have the hurricane danger, which has certainly added to the cost burden. Having said that, I see it as an emerging, strengthening sector.”

Looking ahead In 2020, it is clear that the Tampa Bay authorities need to examine climate resilience to ensure the longevity of its infrastructure. But this will more than

Tampa Electric will build two solar projects in Hillsborough County totaling 149.3 MW

likely require significant investment, and the region’s pockets are not deep enough to meet the demands of an expanding population and rising sea levels. In January 2020, the city held its first resilience leadership summit in an effort to tackle Tampa’s vulnerability to weather events, in one of the first initiatives prioritizing the issue. But the conference faced sharp criticism from Mayor Castor, making it clear there is still a long way to go to change mindsets. “We’re coming to the resiliency conference, and there’s a thousand cars out front,” she told journalists. “Not a good sign.”

Transportation

& Logistics:

Transportation infrastructure is a pressing priority for authorities in the Tampa Bay area, given an expanding population and a strong economy that is pumping up demand. Whether sky, sea, rail or road, the fix is on across the board. Out-of-the-box thinking is helping, but the controversy over a penny tax could mar the region’s efforts.