While some Florida utility companies have raised concerns about higher than expected fuel prices, Tallahassee Utilities officials say they’re not seeing any cost increases on the horizon. Reese Goad is Tallahassee’s Deputy City Manager. He says a diversified energy portfolio is one thing that helps keep local costs steady and he says the addition of two-planned solar farms will build on that.
“For every kilowatt of solar energy that’s produced, it requires that much less fuel that we would need to power our generators regardless of the hour or the day on which that energy is used. So it does start to have a pretty meaningful impact,” Goad says.
Officials review rates in the fall, but Goad says the city routinely checks the prices it expects to pay for fuel. While he says next winter’s costs are expected to be slightly higher than last year, that should be balanced in the spring when costs are expected to be quite a bit lower.
