KISSIMMEE, Fla. – In a landmark decision, the Kissimmee City Commission on Tuesday, February 5, 2019, approved a partnership with Kissimmee Utility Authority to power 100 percent of its facilities with solar energy, beginning in 2020.
“Kissimmee will be the first city in the State of Florida to have 100 percent of its facilities powered by solar. This is a positive step toward the future as we decide to use clean energy, and is a decision that will benefit the City and its residents for many years to come,” said Mayor José Álvarez.
The partnership between the City of Kissimmee and KUA allows the City the opportunity to secure a fixed energy rate for the next 20 years, independent of the fluctuating costs associated with typical power generation. This agreement does not require the City to make any capital investments or long-term commitments.
“We welcome the City as our first solar subscriber,” said KUA president and general manager Jim Welsh. “We anticipate tremendous interest by both residential and commercial customers as we roll out this new community solar program.”
KUA joined the Florida Municipal Solar Project in 2018, a large-scale solar energy project that will enable KUA to provide renewable energy to its customers in the most cost-effective way. The project is a joint effort between the Florida Municipal Power Agency, 12 of its member municipal utilities and NextEra Florida Renewables, LLC. It will be one of the largest municipal solar projects in the United States and will include the construction of two solar farms within Osceola County.
Understanding the importance of sustainability isn’t anything new for the City of Kissimmee. Over the past several years the City has installed electric vehicle charging stations, replaced inefficient athletic field lighting with LED fixtures, deployed hybrid-electric sanitation vehicles that rely less on fossil fuels, made structural modifications to improve the energy efficiency at facilities, and implemented various automated HVAC systems to lower energy consumption.
For more information about the City of Kissimmee, visit www.kissimmee.org.
Founded in 1901, KUA is Florida’s sixth largest community-owned utility powering 76,000 customers in Osceola County, Fla. For more information, visit http://kua.com.