Clean Energy Resolution

The City of Tallahassee is a longstanding leader in caring for our environment. We are a City that leads by example, and our results speak for themselves. Our Tallahassee Solar program generates 62-megawatts of solar power and is the largest airport-based solar farm in the world. Our StarMetro bus fleet contains 19 all-electric buses and is growing. Our Energy Smart PLUS (e+) program has been helping residents save energy and money through rebates, grants and loans for decades. While we've made great strides in sustainability and have already met our goals from the Kyoto Protocol and Paris Accords, there's more to be done in working with the community to reach 100% clean, renewable energy.

In 2019, our City Commission took the bold and visionary step of committing to transition Tallahassee to a 100% clean, renewable energy future by 2050, with continued reductions in greenhouse gas emissions along the way, thanks to the unanimous passage of the Clean Energy Resolution. Tallahassee is now one of over 160 cities in the U.S., and one of only 10 cities in Florida, to set this ambitious and important goal.

Healthy, vibrant living is a hallmark of Tallahassee. The City works to protect the community in doing our part to ensure a high-quality way of life for generations to come. This means prioritizing the reduction of our greenhouse gas emissions and incorporating clean, renewable energy into the fabric of our infrastructure.

Clean, renewable energy means cleaner air, healthier residents, new green jobs and a stronger more resilient community.

A plan was developed to achieve a 100% clean, renewable energy future. To ensure success, feedback was solicited on issues including affordability, equity, local job creation, access to local power, opportunities for public health, benefits to the environment and more.

The Clean Energy Resolution was developed in partnership with Tally100, the City's Utility Citizens Advisory Committee and the local Sierra Club chapter. The resolution identifies two key milestones:

• 2035: Achieve 100% clean, renewable energy in City Operations
• Operate all City facilities using 100% clean, renewable energy
• Shift City light-duty vehicles to 100% electric
• Shift StarMetro fixed-route buses to 100% electric
• Note: the remainder of the City's vehicle fleet will move to all electric as the technology becomes available for reliable service delivery

• 2050: Achieve 100% clean, renewable energy community-wide
• Shift all public and private uses of energy in Tallahassee to 100% clean, renewable energy sources
• Note: any unavoidable use of non-renewable energy will be balanced by the export of renewable energy to other communities

What is Clean Energy?

Renewable energy, often referred to as clean energy, comes from natural sources or processes that are constantly replenished. For example, sunlight and wind keep shining and blowing, even if their availability depends on time and weather.

Why is Clean Energy Important?

PUBLIC HEALTH

• Air and water pollution emitted by coal and natural gas plants is linked with breathing problems, neurological damage, heart attacks, cancer, premature death, and a host of other serious problems.
• Wind, solar, and hydroelectric systems generate electricity with no associated air pollution emissions.

 

ENVIRONMENT

• In the United States, about 29 percent of global warming emissions come from the electricity sector. Most of those emissions come from fossil fuels like coal and natural gas.
• Most renewable energy sources produce little to no global warming emissions.
• Even when including “life cycle” emissions of clean energy (ie, the emissions from each stage of a technology’s life—manufacturing, installation, operation, decommissioning), the global warming emissions associated with renewable energy are minimal.
• Similarly, total life cycle emissions (including battery manufacturing) are substantially lower for electric vehicles than traditional internal combustion engine vehicles - particularly during the useful life phase - as they produce zero tailpipe emissions and are quieter on the roads.

 

ECONOMIC/WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

• Increased support for renewable energy could create even more jobs.
• The 2009 Union of Concerned Scientists study of a 25-percent-by-2025 renewable energy standard found that such a policy would create more than three times as many jobs (more than 200,000) as producing an equivalent amount of electricity from fossil fuels.
• Similarly, an electric vehicle in Florida costs less to charge up per “e-gallon” compared to the cost of fueling up with gallon of gas. With fewer moving parts, electric vehicles also incur lower maintenance costs. By relying on locally-generated electricity, EVs keep money in the local economy.

 

STABLE ENERGY PRICES

• Renewable energy can provide affordable electricity across the country and help stabilize energy prices in the future.
• Although renewable facilities require upfront investments to build, they can then operate at very low cost (for most clean energy technologies, the “fuel” is free). As a result, renewable energy prices can be very stable over time.
• The costs of renewable energy technologies have declined steadily and are projected to drop even more. In contrast, fossil fuel prices can vary dramatically and are prone to substantial price swings.
• Using more renewable energy can lower the price of and demand for natural gas by increasing competition and diversifying our energy supplies. And an increased reliance on renewable energy can help protect consumers when fossil fuel prices spike.

 

RELIABILITY AND RESILIENCE

• Renewable energy sources are less prone to large-scale failure because they are distributed and modular. Distributed systems are spread out over a large geographical area, so a severe weather event in one location will not cut off power to an entire region. Modular systems are composed of numerous inliidual solar arrays. Even if some of the equipment in the system is damaged, the rest can typically continue to operate.
• The risk of disruptive events will increase in the future as droughts, heat waves, more intense storms, and increasingly severe wildfires become more frequent due to global warming—increasing the need for resilient, clean technologies.
• Electric vehicles have the potential to play an important role in grid stabilization, such as by offloading stored energy back to a home or the grid during peak demand times. They can also provide emergency power during blackouts caused by weather or other disruptive events.

Commitment to our Community

The City of Tallahassee Utilities will continue our commitment to provide safe and reliable power at rates that are among the lowest in Florida.

Safety
Keeping our employees, customers and community safe is our top priority.

Low Rates
We work hard to make sure you enjoy some of the lowest rates in Florida.

Reliability
We're constantly working to avoid outages by ensuring and improving reliability for our customers.