The Florida Public Service Commission agreed to require the state’s utilities to generate 20% of their power from renewable energy sources by 2020. Currently the state gets 3% of their energy from renewable resources. The proposal calls for 7% renewable energy by January 2013, 12% by 2016, 18% by 2019 and 20% by the end of 2020. The proposal also includes limits on electric rate increases to protect consumers. It also mandates that a large portion of the renewable energy will be from solar and wind power. “Clean” coal is not eligible for this proposal, but nuclear power is a possibility.
There are 18 other states with similar mandates on their utilities for the increased use of renewable energy.