
The Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) Authority voted to end a solar agreement on Wednesday with Origis Energy first started in 2020, stopping the plans to build a 75-megawatt installation in Archer.
Utility CEO Ed Bielarski said the price of installing solar facilities continued to rise over the years as the utility faced delays. Delays included an initial denial by Alachua County of a special use permit. Origis Energy also negotiated for months to come to agreement with surrounding residents who initially opposed the solar array.
The cost to execute the agreement nearly doubled since the 2020 contract, according to GRU backup documents, as Origis Energy couldn’t construct the facility under the old agreement.
GRU and Origis Energy amended the contract in 2023 to increase the price per megawatt-hour (MWh) that the utility would pay. The change raised the price from $31.52 per MWh to $40.56, but even with the adjustment, backup documents said the escalating cost to build the facility—and competition with data centers—made the project unfeasible.
GRU said the price per MWh needed to finish the project would be more than the utility currently pays for its average megawatt. If the project went forward, rates would need to increase to adjust for the higher price per megawatt coming from the solar array.
Bielarski pointed out that Origis Energy agreed to the termination because of the conditions in the contract.
“We know that there’s a blip in the market,” Bielarski said. “Do we want to do it now or do we do it later when we can save the customers money?”
Ending the contract with Origis Energy released both from any obligations.
However, Bielarski and GRU Authority directors said exiting this contract doesn’t prevent the utility from building a commercial solar array in the future—even with Origis Energy.
This solar project was also subject to political scrutiny during the transition of GRU from the management of the Gainesville City Commission to the GRU Authority, especially because the initial contracts redacted the price per megawatt and other components.
The solar array contract was on the consent agenda, and several public commenters asked the GRU Authority to pull the item and have a full discussion. They also opposed ending the contract and touched on points like the popularity of solar in Florida, the price of solar energy, the volatility of gas prices and the environmental impact.
Another group of public commenters urged the GRU Authority to stop adding fluoride to Gainesville’s drinking water, which it has done since the 1940s.
The request follows a nationwide trend to reconsider adding fluoride to drinking water—largely prompted by comments by Robert Kennedy Jr., who President-elect Donald Trump has picked as the next secretary of health and human services. Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo recommended in November that fluoride stop being added to drinking water.
Since November, the Florida cities of Port St. Lucie, Stuart and Tavares have voted to stop adding fluoride, according to Florida Today. The city of Melbourne voted to stop adding fluoride after a “marathon” meeting on Tuesday.
Florida Today reports that Melbourne commissioners cited the lack of choice that customers have and new studies.
Speakers at GRU’s meeting hit on similar themes.
But several other speakers opposed any change. They cited benefits of fluoride when added in safe amounts to water and said it promotes teeth health. Local dentist and UF graduate Dr. Bert Hughes spoke and said peer-reviewed studies have shown that fluoride is not harmful when added to drinking water.
The topic was not on the GRU Authority agenda, and directors didn’t touch on the issue.
The GRU Authority voted to extend its contract for legal services with Folds Walker, LLC. The contract now lasts through the beginning of August.
Attorney Scott Walker is representing the GRU Authority in an ongoing lawsuit against the Gainesville City Commission. The lawsuit claims that the city’s November referendum was illegal and the results are void.
In that referendum, Gainesville residents voted 73% to remove Section 7 of the city charter and return control of GRU to the City Commission, eliminating the authority.
Since the referendum was first proposed, the GRU Authority and its attorneys called the action illegal and gave its view to the city. An Alachua County judge has ordered the referendum not be enforced until after the lawsuit is settled.
Scott updated the authority on the lawsuit. He said the oral arguments would likely be held in late April or early May.
Sure, let’s end demon fluoride. I mean, what does 80 years of evidence show, and what do those scientists know, anyway. After all, if his boss thinks a vaccine denier can run America’s Federal health system, and if he thinks fluoride is bad, well it must be…bad. Right? Well, amirite?
Robert Kennedy Jr. urges that fluoride not be added to drinking water.
“Dr”. Joseph Ladapo recommends that fluoride stop being added to drinking water.
Yep. All goes to prove: the inmates are now truly in charge of the asylum.
I worked in the DEP drinking water section in Tallahassee for 13 years and used to get calls from anti-fluoride groups. If you look on the web, there are many anti-fluoride sites, none which are based in sound science. The ADA supports adding fluoride which occurs naturally in drinking water anyways as it has been proven again and again to strengthen teeth and prevent cavities. Real studies on this began in Grand Rapids, Michigan many years ago.
Buy fluoride toothpaste instead of polluting water supplies, 99% of which isn’t ingested anyway. It goes down the drain, in swimming pools and carwashes and irrigation systems etc. Hydrofluosilicic acid is an EPA-listed toxin sourced from phosphate mining and fertilizer hazmat being sold instead of fined and contained. Fluoride itself has been long known to disrupt thyroid function. It accumulates in the body. No informed consent was ever sought or peer-reviewed studies done to approve mass-medicating entire populations. Its supporters among dentists also still defend implanting mercury even in children’s teeth. The 1940s origins of putting hazmat fluoride in water supplies are murky and unsubstatiated by actual scientific research. Nothing like that would be thinkable today, one would hope. Efforts to reverse that course here and elsewhere far precede RFK Jr., and making it another political football is sad. On the other hand, bringing it into the open can finally end this baseless practice, as is happening in some places. 2025 is well past time to just stop it and move on. Those who want to use fluoride topically or ingest it have plenty of sources available. If you want to use fluoride, go ahead.
As much as 80 years’ experience and clinical study after clinical study hasn’t convinced you? Don’t drink the water, then.
I fully support Tana Silva‘s position about water fluoridation — it has been years since I’ve heard of any fluoride treatments in my dentist office. However, I do see plenty of fluoride-containing products in our grocery stores and local pharmacies — toothpastes, oral rinses, etc. Thus, the solution is simple: buy those products for your personal consumption, if you are so inclined, and keep fluoride out of our water. Is that too much to ask?