DATA GAPS 



The lack of recent data, especially that to be compiled by the U.S. Gov- 

 ernment population census for 1980, makes it difficult to give a perspective 

 or status report on current conditions relating to residential and industrial 

 development in Southwest Florida. This chapter should be updated when this 

 information becomes available to verify the interpretation of trends and to 

 make comparisons with other 1980 census information. 



PUBLIC UTILITIES 



Residential and industrial development are in part dependent on the 

 availability and capacity of public utilities. Since DCS oil and gas recovery 

 would place new demands on public utilities, it is important to understand the 

 type, distribution, and degree of services available in Southwest Florida. 



INVENTORY OF UTILITIES 



Generation of electrical power in Florida depends heavily on imported 

 fuel oil. A number of generating facilities are now being converted to burn 

 a combination of oil and pulverized coal. Although these conversions are 

 expensive, coal should replace oil as the primary source of fuel in Florida 

 sometime before 1990. 



Of the four privately-owned utilities in the State, the three that serve 

 the ten-county Southwest Florida region are Florida Power and Light (head- 

 quartered in Miami), Florida Power Corporation (St. Petersburg), and Tampa 

 Electric Company (Tampa). The service areas of these three utilities are 

 shown in Figure 2. 



The Florida Power and Light Company (FLPL), with plants in 11 locations 

 (and two more plants under construction), has the largest new capability of 

 any power utility in the State. Its service area covers virtually all of 

 southern Florida and extends along the east coast as far north as Jackson- 

 ville. It serves seven of the ten counties in Southwest Florida (Charlotte, 

 Collier, DeSoto, Lee, Manatee, Monroe, and Sarasota), but only 2 of its 11 

 plants are in Southwest Florida, the Fort Myers facility in Lee County has 

 two fossil fuel steam generating units operating on heavy oil, and 12 combus- 

 tion turbine generating units operating on light oil (Table 16). The Manatee 

 facility in Manatee County has two fossil fuel steam units that use heavy oil. 



The Florida Power Corporation, which has the second largest power capa- 

 bility in the State, serves Pinellas and Pasco Counties, as well as much of 

 central and northwestern Florida. In Pinellas County, FLPC operates the 

 Anclote facility at Tarpon Springs, which has two fossil steam units operating 

 on heavy oil, the Bartow plant in St. Petersburg, which has three fossil steam 

 units fueled by heavy oil, and four combustion turbine units fueled by light 

 oil. The Higgins plant at Oldsmar has three fossil fuel units fueled by heavy 

 oil and four combustion turbine units operating on light oil (Table 16). 



78 



