Staff Reports
Tampa Electric’s journey of environmental stewardship began two decades ago and continues strong today with the utility’s latest solar power expansion.
By the end of 2025, Tampa Electric will launch another significant expansion of solar power by adding six more sites of solar projects. With these additions, Tampa Electric will generate enough solar energy to power nearly 260,000 Florida homes, which is the highest percentage of solar power of any electric company in the state.
“During this time when volatile natural gas prices are affecting electricity bills, investments in solar power help all customers to save fuel costs,” said Archie Collins, president and chief executive officer of Tampa Electric. “We are committed to expanding solar power at a pace that makes sense for customers.”
When this solar project is complete, Tampa Electric expects its solar fleet to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 2.35 million tons annually, which is the equivalent of removing 500,000 cars from the road.
Tampa Electric highlighted how its investment in solar energy reduces greenhouse gas emissions and helps save fuel costs for customers and conserves water.
Tampa Electric’s solar power is expected to save about $90 million in fuel costs in 2022 alone. To highlight the status of the savings, Tampa Electric launched a new dashboard highlighting the savings achieved through solar energy.
In addition to customer savings, solar projects conserve water by repurposing former agricultural land for solar investments. To date, Tampa Electric has saved more than 4.3 billion gallons of water in Florida communities with limited water resources.
By the end of 2025, 17% of Tampa Electric’s energy will be fueled by the sun, 82% by natural gas, and 1% by coal. In the past two decades, Tampa Electric has reduced its use of coal by more than 90% and has successfully reduced its carbon footprint by 50%.
Solar is expected to produce 20% of Tampa Electric’s power by 2031.
Tampa Electric is one of Florida’s largest investor-owned electric utilities, serving more than 800,000 customers in West Central Florida.
