(The Center Square) — With one of the fastest-growing populations in the U.S., Florida’s electricity consumption is steadily rising.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Florida is the second-largest electricity producer nationally, second to Texas. Natural gas fuels the vast majority of electricity in the state, accounting for three-fourths of the state’s net generation capacity.
EIA also states that while Florida is a large producer of electricity — producing 19.27 megawatts per hour in March 2023 — it is also one of the biggest consumers, coming in third after Texas and California. For every 10 households, nine rely solely on electricity — consuming more than half of the state’s output — the largest share of any state in the U.S.
Because of this, Florida can not produce all the energy needed to power the state and receives supplemental electricity from the regional grid. However, residential prices in the Sunshine State still remain below the national average of 15.85 cents per kilowatt hour at 14.76 cents per kilowatt hour.
Daren Bakst, Deputy Director and Senior Fellow of the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute told The Center Square that the population growth in Florida will likely not affect prices. However, the federal government’s push for what he considers unreliable renewable energy sources could affect prices in the future.
“Floridians should be able to expect reliable and affordable electricity even as the population grows,” Bakst said. “But if the government reduces the supply of reliable electricity and creates obstacles to building reliable sources of electricity generation, then prices will be driven up. Government meddling is the threat for Floridians when it comes to electricity prices.”
Since taking office, President Joe Biden has supported regulations encouraging more people to adopt electric vehicles, accounting only for 5.8% of all new car sales in 2022 and only 1% of all registered vehicles in the U.S.
Bakst stated that more EVs would put a huge strain on the power grid and warned that rolling blackouts could become the norm.
“Regarding the electricity grid, government efforts to force a switch to unreliable and costly forms of electricity, such as wind and solar, are already putting pressure on the grid,” Bakst said, adding that increased demand due to EVs will make these challenges even worse.
“If there is a continued push for unreliable electricity and getting people into EVs, then Americans may want to start getting used to electricity rationing and no longer being able to expect the light to come on when they flick the switch,” Bakst said.
