Cocoa Votes to Become Florida's 11th 100 Percent Clean Energy for All City
Cocoa, FL — Tuesday night, the City Council of Cocoa unanimously passed a resolution committing the city to transition to 100 percent clean, renewable energy for the entire community by 2050 and for municipal operations by 2035. Cocoa became the second city in Brevard County, joining the city of Satellite Beach, which made a similar commitment last August. Cocoa is the 11th city in the state to commit to powering their entire community with 100 percent clean, renewable sources of energy, like solar and storage.
The city will begin developing a plan immediately to achieve both goals. The resolution emphasizes inclusion and transparency in the planning process which will establish interim milestones, budget estimates, equity metrics and financing mechanisms with community residents and stakeholders over the next two years.
Cocoa joins a growing group of Florida cities that includes Orlando, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, Tallahassee and Gainesville among others, and joins the more than 160 other cities to commit to this goal.
"Cocoa's commitment to move toward renewables is not just aspirational neither is it radical. As a community, by signing on to Ready for 100, we are pre-positioning ourselves to leverage the solar tipping point. In the not so long term, this move will provide reduced costs along with clean energy and a better environment to our citizens," said Lorraine Koss, Cocoa City Council member, District 4.
"Because Cocoa has a Sustainability Action Plan in place, the city has been well on its way to moving toward a cleaner and healthier community. The passing of this resolution shows that Cocoa wants to make their community a leader in the fight for a just and equitable transition to 100 percent clean energy. By committing to 100 percent renewable energy goals, Cocoa is paving the way for other communities to follow suit, and we look forward to working with the city to make this transition," said Leslie Maloney, political chair of the Turtle Coast Sierra Club Group.