Florida’s Looming Power Shortage: What Lies Ahead
In Wednesday’s takeaways I had this to say...in discussing our country’s power struggles. In an ICF study released recently the demand for additional power in the U.S. will grow by 25% within just the next five years and explode by 78% over the next twenty-five years. The Age of crypto and AI comes with an enormous demand for new energy. But here’s the thing about the surging demand for power. We don’t have it. Most recently power generation has only been growing domestically by 1.7% per year. That’s not even half the rate of generation that’s needed to account for the growth in demand by the end of the decade. But as significant as the country’s deficit is...there’s a much bigger issue looming close to home.
Florida is experiencing one of the most rapid surges in U.S. electricity needs. Based on the ICF Report estimates here’s what we can expect to see:
Forecasted Demand Growth
- By 2030: Florida's electricity demand is projected to rise by 30–40% compared to 2023 levels—exceeding the national average of 25%. This positions Florida among the top three states for growth intensity.
- By 2050: Cumulative growth could reach 90–110%, driven by compounding factors, potentially straining the state's grid more than most regions.
Primary Drivers in Florida
Florida's boom is fueled by a mix of industrial, tech, and climate-adaptive factors:
- Data Centers and AI: As a gateway to Latin America with low-latency fiber optics, Florida is attracting hyperscale data centers. AI workloads could account for 40% of new demand by 2030.
- Manufacturing: Onshoring of semiconductors, batteries, and EVs: 25%
- Oil & Gas and Energy Production: Offshore Gulf operations and LNG export terminals (Port Everglades) are shifting to electric compression and processing: 15%
- Residential and Commercial Electrification: 15%
- Other/Crypto: 5%
The report goes on to recommend a minimum of $10 billion in new investment by Florida’s utility companies by the end of the decade with a focus on solar as the area for the fastest growth potential within our state. FPL’s 30 by 30 initiative is working generally in that direction but still may be behind the curve given the one, two, three punch of the AI/crypto age, Florida’s growing success as a business relocation destination and Florida’s rapid population growth.