Orlando's Renewable Energy Future: The Path to 100 Percent Renewable Energy by 2050

Sierra Club
Project completed August 2020

Of all U.S. states, Florida will feel the largest direct impacts from climate change. Given the City of Orlando’s vulnerability to climate impacts, Mayor Dyer and Orlando City Commissioner's commitment to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050 was a critical move. Yet Orlando’s electric utility, the Orlando Utilities Commission, still relies almost entirely on fossil fuels to supply the City’s electricity. The city conducted an integrated resource planning exercise to determine the future of its electricity system.

This study focuses strongly on fossil resources and includes an evaluation of whether to keep the Stanton Energy Center online, convert the units to gas, or retire the plant. In response to the utility’s IRP exercise, Synapse conducted a study on behalf of the First 50 Coalition to evaluate an alternative renewable and clean energy portfolio that can provide Orlando with the energy and capacity it needs at a lower cost and with lesser environmental impact than the fossil heavy system that the city’s IRP will propose.