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Tampa Electric Company\u2019s Big Bend plant in Apollo Beach, Florida. Credit: Dennis McDonald \/ TECO Plant Big Bend Apollo Beach<\/p>\nTampa Electric Company\u2019s Big Bend plant in Apollo Beach, Florida. Credit: Dennis McDonald \/ TECO Plant Big Bend Apollo Beach<\/p>\n
Tampa Bay\u2019s electric utilities are facing a struggle familiar to those of us who were academic delinquents: a bad report card.<\/p>\n
The Sierra Club\u2019s annual\u00a0 Dirty Truths report<\/a> evaluates every American electric utility\u2019s progress towards eliminating pollution-heavy energy production methods.<\/p>\n Duke scored 7 out of 100. TECO scored 2 out of 100.<\/p>\n Utilities were scored by how close they are to hitting three goals the Sierra Club set: eliminating coal by 2030, not building new gas plants through 2035, and building clean energy to replace fossil fuels by 2035.<\/p>\n Florida\u2019s electric companies are preparing for an explosion of demand<\/a> as plans for energy-hungry data centers expand.<\/p>\n The Sierra Club wants to make sure that fossil fuels aren\u2019t used to fuel that expansion.<\/p>\n The report also says that renewable energy is cheaper, and sticking to fossil fuels is driving the affordability crisis. TECO doesn\u2019t pay for fuel; they add the cost of it directly to electric bills. Fluctuations in price affect rate-payers more than they affect the company.<\/p>\n TECO representative Cherie Jacobs told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that the Sierra Club\u2019s goals aren\u2019t achievable.<\/p>\n \u201cTo serve almost 900,000 customers every minute of every day, having 100% renewable energy just isn\u2019t realistic,\u201d Jacobs said. \u201cWe have a balance of natural gas as a fuel and renewables to produce that electricity.\u201d<\/p>\n But she also said only about 11 percent of TECO\u2019s energy comes from renewable sources. That\u2019s short of TECO\u2019s own goal,<\/a> set in 2022, to have 17 percent of their capacity be produced by solar by the end of 2025.<\/p>\n Nearly 90 percent of TECO\u2019s electricity generation comes from fossil fuels, mostly natural gas.<\/p>\n Walter Smith, who leads the Sierra Club\u2019s fight against coal in Tampa Bay, told CL that natural gas isn\u2019t sustainable.<\/p>\n \u201cGas seems to be the cop out, right? It seems to be the one thing that they would use in order to say, \u2018oh, we\u2019re using clean energy,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cNo, it\u2019s just cleaner than coal. It is still affecting our environment in some terrible ways.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith said the score reflects a lack of real commitment to renewable energy, and that utilities need to act fast to address the pressures of climate change.<\/p>\n While coal makes up less than 1 percent of TECO\u2019s fuel mix today, according to Jacobs, Smith said it\u2019s still putting a burden on consumers because the equipment is hard to maintain.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving to retrofit that old system constantly is costing them money. They\u2019ve admitted that consistently. It\u2019s costing them money, and it costs us money because it\u2019s passed on to us as customers.\u201d<\/p>\n Ana Gibbs, a Duke Energy Florida spokesperson, told CL that the company\u2019s approach balances economic factors against the climate dangers of continuing to burn fossil fuels.<\/p>\n \u201cOur diverse, all-of-the above fuel-mix approach supports the continued growth and economic vitality of the communities we serve,\u201d Gibbs said in an emailed statement.<\/p>\n She noted that power plant upgrades and additional solar capacity have reduced fuel costs for consumers.<\/p>\n But renewables only account for 11 percent<\/a> of Duke\u2019s electricity, with much of that coming from hydropower dams that may harm the environment in other ways.<\/a><\/p>\n St. Petersburg\u2019s \u201cDump Duke\u201d campaign has grown in popularity. A coalition of environmental and affordability-focused groups recently launched a petition to get public power on the ballot.<\/a><\/p>\n The group said electricity would be more affordable with a city-run utility, in part because they believe the city is more likely to switch to renewable energy.<\/p>\n Duke pushed back against that, using a utility-favored firm<\/a> to generate a report saying it could cost the city up to $4.1 billion.<\/p>\n Pitch in to help make the Tampa Bay Journalism Project a success.<\/a><\/p>\n Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0BlueSky<\/a><\/p>\n This article appears in Sept. 24 \u2013 30, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n \t