TECO Energy

TECO Energy Inc. is an energy-related holding company based in Tampa, Florida, and a subsidiary of Emera Incorporated. TECO Energy has several subsidiaries: Tampa Electric, which provides electricity to the Tampa Bay Area and parts of Central Florida; Peoples Gas Company,[lower-alpha 1] which provides natural gas throughout Florida; and TECO Services, which provides IT, HR, legal, facilities, and other services to current and former TECO subsidiaries. Previously the company was in the S&P 500 before it became private due its acquisition by Emera.

TECO Energy
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryElectric & Gas Utilities
Founded1899
HeadquartersTampa, Florida, United States
Area served
Florida
Key people
Archie Collins (CEO Tampa Electric Company)
T.J. Szelistowski (President Peoples Gas Company)
Number of employees
3,713
ParentEmera
Websitewww.tecoenergy.com
TECO's Big Bend Power Station

TECO Energy businesses include New Mexico Gas Company.[1] TECO's three utilities serve a total of 1.6 million customers in Florida and New Mexico.[2] In 2012, TECO exited its business in Guatemala.[3]

History

Tampa Electric began in 1899 to manage electric trolley systems in the city of Tampa.[4] On September 4, 2015, Emera, a utility holding company based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, announced the pending acquisition of TECO Energy. That purchase closed on July 1, 2016, and TECO Energy, Inc. became a wholly owned subsidiary of Emera, Inc.[5]

Environmental record

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2006 identified TECO Energy as the 37th-largest corporate producer of air pollution in the United States in 2002, with roughly 11 million pounds of toxic chemicals released annually into the air.[6] Major pollutants indicated by the study included hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, chromium compounds, arsenic compounds, and nickel compounds.[6]

In 2000, TECO Energy was fined $3.5 million for making changes to emissions producing facilities without installing new updated pollution controls. This led to the switch from coal to natural gas in one of its plants by 2004 and optimization of pollution controls in another. These changes were enacted to drastically cut emissions, notably sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions.[7]

On July 6, 2019, People's Gas, a division of Tampa Electric Company,[8] caused an explosion of a shopping center in Plantation, Florida known as the Market on University because People's Gas failed to close and lock a gas line after a customer request dating back to December 2018. The failure to close and lock the gas line is a violation of Federal law and Florida law. Peoples/TECO claims that a computer program cancelled the shutoff order unbeknownst to the utility. TECO/Peoples hid the claimed computer error from state investigators. The computer error caused hundreds of gas line shutoff orders to be cancelled system wide. TECO/Peoples also blame the owner of the shopping center for not capping the gas line when the tenant removed a gas pizza oven. Over 60 lawsuits were filed in response to the explosion many of which remain pending.[9]

In 2017, TECO had an explosion at its Big Bend power plant near Tampa, Florida killing 5 workers who were performing a dangerous procedure water jetting molten slag in a coal fired furnace. The workers were killed because an explosion occurred. TECO experienced the same type of accident 10 years prior and developed a policy to prevent future accidents but failed to train workers on the safety policy. In May 2022, TECO pleaded guilty to violating an OSHA safety regulation requiring a meeting to ensure workers are properly trained that would have prevented the deaths of the 5 workers. In August 2022 TECO was sentenced to a $500,000 fine and 3 years of probation. TECO admitted that it willfully violated an OSHA safety regulation as part of its guilty plea.[10][11]

On September 28, 2017, TECO announced it was adding 600 MW of solar to its electricity-producing portfolio.[12]

See also

References

Informational notes

  1. no relation to the Chicago-based company of the same name

Citations

  1. Penn, Ivan (2013-05-28). "TECO Energy acquires New Mexico natural gas company". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2015-02-14.
  2. TECO Energy, Inc. 2014 Annual Report
  3. "TECO sells Guatemala power plants, exits international business". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2015-02-14.
  4. "History of TECO ENERGY, INC. – FundingUniverse". www.fundinguniverse.com. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
  5. "Emera completes acquisition of TECO Energy, which will still be called TECO Energy". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  6. Weinstein, Kim (2016-05-10). "Toxic 100 Air Polluters Index: 2004 Report, Based on 2002 data". PERI. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  7. US EPA, OECA (2013-05-09). "Tampa Electric Company (TECO) Clean Air Act (CAA) Settlement". www.epa.gov. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  8. Switalski, Caitlin; Fox, Madeline (2019-07-06). "Suspected Gas Explosion Injures At Least 23 People At Plantation Shopping Mall". WUSF Public Media. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  9. "Gas leak suspected in explosion that rocked South Florida shopping center, injuring 23". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  10. "TECO gets $500,000 fine, probation in 2017 explosion that killed 5 in Tampa Bay". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  11. "Florida Power Company Sentenced in Worker Death Case". www.justice.gov. 2022-08-19. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  12. "Tampa Electric proposes building 600 MW of solar PV". pv magazine USA. Retrieved 2017-09-28.
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