Benefits

TECO owns and operates a combined heat and power-based district energy system, which means energy efficiency goes up, emissions go down, and its customers and the community benefit.

Always available.

• Exceptionally reliable. Automated and monitored around the clock, TECO has maintained 100% reliability for its customers – no unplanned outages – since 1992.
• Resilient. TECO’s combined heat and power (CHP) unit can produce enough electricity to power its Central Plant, keeping chillers and boilers running to serve customers even if the electricity grid goes down. 

High value.

• Cost-effective. Because it serves many customers, TECO uses larger, more efficient and higher-quality equipment than a single institution could justify. In fact, its efficiencies helped reduce customer rates 14% from 2015 to 2019. 
• Energy-efficient. TECO’s CHP system recycles waste heat from power generation to produce cooling and heating – all from a single fuel source. 
• Environmentally sound. Customers don’t have to burn fuels or store refrigerants and chemicals on-site. TECO takes care of that at its plants, employing more stringent emission controls than individual buildings.

Convenient.

• High-quality customer service. TECO team members are familiar with customers and their buildings and are always available to answer questions, making it easy to get information when it’s needed the most.
• Easy operation and maintenance. Customers don’t have to run their own chillers and boilers, so there are fewer operating challenges.
• Flexible design. With less space allocated for cooling and heating equipment, architects and engineers have greater design flexibility for new builds and renovations.

TECO rebated customers a total of $55.2 million from 2011 to 2020 due to its high energy and operational efficiency.

The Extra Benefits of CHP. TECO’s combined heat and power plant operates at 72% efficiency – more than twice as efficiently as standard power plants. Standard power plants effectively use just one-third of the fuel they burn to produce electricity. Two-thirds of the fuel ends up being “wasted” up the smokestack. TECO uses the waste heat – effectively recycling it – to help produce heating and cooling.

CHP use enables TECO to decrease annual fossil fuel use by more than 60%; reduce its annual emissions of nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide; and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 42,000 tons per year, equal to taking 8,000 passenger vehicles off the road. (Calculations per the EPA’s CHP Emissions Calculator as compared to a conventional electric generation and heat-only system.)