by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
“Being ‘green’ is a great thing, but realistically there are costs involved,” was how JEA CEO Jim Dickenson began his presentation Monday to the members of the Rotary Club of Jacksonville.
He then explained several of the concepts involved in generating enough electricity to keep JEA’s customers in power, including different ways to make electricity and each method’s advantages and disadvantages in terms of cost and environmental impact.
Dickenson began by saying that “greenhouse gasses” are not just environmental cuplrits, they are necessary to maintain a consistent temperature on the planet and without them, “The planet would be too cold to sustain life.”
In terms of total greenhouse gasses produced by industries in America, utilities are the leading sector and responsible for 40 percent of the greenhouse gasses produced annually, followed by the transportation sector at 33 percent. Utilities are the leader because most generate electricity using fossil fuels like coal, natural gas and oil. In fact, Dickenson said, 49 percent of America’s electricity is generated by burning coal because it is economical compared to other fuels and the supply is dependable. Most coal used to generate electricity is taken out of the ground in America instead of by foreign countries (like oil) but worldwide demand, particularly in China, has been causing the price of coal to steadily rise for years.
“The JEA is like any business,” said Dickenson. “When it comes to choosing how we’re going to make electricity, it has to be economical and dependable.”
JEA is also planning for the future and exploring alternative energy-generating methods including solar and wind power. Dickenson said both are currently cost-prohibitive and neither is dependable enough to be the primary source of generating power. Nuclear power, on the other hand, is in JEA’s long-range plan and will be part of the mix by 2017.
“JEA also owns some wind turbines in Nebraska,”continued Dickenson. “We sell the power to Nebraska utilities and we’re looking at possibly building a solar farm somewhere in Duval County.”
Another form of alternative fuel JEA will soon use to generate electricity is combustible gas produced by decomposing trash and garbage.
“We just signed a contract with the City and Waste Management (Company) concerning Trail Ridge Landfill,” said Dickenson. “We expect to generate 10 megawatts of electricity from landfill gasses.”
Any new technology comes with a price, he cautioned, and that price is significant when it comes to some sources of renewable energy such as solar or wind power.
“Almost 100 percent of the electricity JEA generates today is through using fossil fuels and that costs about $600 per megawatt. Moving to non-fossil fuels would increase our cost to produce electricity to $1,200 to $5,000 per megawatt,” said Dickenson.
Federal climate-control legislation that is getting closer to approval will also increase JEA’s cost of doing business, Dickenson predicted.
“It’s just a question of how soon it will happen and how much it will cost us. We are actively lobbying the State Legislature and Congress to make sure our lawmakers are aware of issues facing utilities,” he said.
Photo by Max Marbut
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