Letter from Marvin M. Yarosh, Executive Director of the Florida Energy Committee, with attached data about energy demand during Daylight Saving Time, January 25, 1974

Daylight saving

Energy policy

Energy conservation

A letter from Marvin M. Yarosh, Executive Director of the Florida Energy Committee, dated January 25, 1974, to Governor Askew, the Florida Senate President, and the Florida Speaker of the House with attached data about the peak energy demand in Florida during Daylight Saving Time. In Yarosh's opinion, the shift in timeframe of the peak energy demand aids in the saving of energy.

Yarosh, Marvin M., 1926-2004

Florida Energy Committee

State Archives of Florida, Collection M90-18

1974-01-25

Firestone, George, 1931-2012

MacKay, "Buddy" (Kenneth Hood), Jr., 1933-

letters (correspondence)

eng-US

text

m90-18_b07_f02_x02

Late 20th-Century Florida (1968-2000)

Tallahassee (Fla.)

Leon County (Fla.)

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Politics and Government

Science and Research

Florida. Governor (1971-1979 : Askew)

Florida Power Corporation

Gulf Power Company

Florida Power and Light Company

Askew, Reubin O'Donovan, 1928-2014

Horne, Mallory E. (Mallory Eli), 1925-2009

Sessums, T. Terrell (Thomas Terrell), 1930-2020

STATE OF FLORIDA
FLORIDA ENERGY COMMITTEE
Co-Chairmen
Senator George Firestone
Representative Kenneth H. McKay, Jr.
Marvin Yarosh
Executive Director
Senate Office Building
Tallahassee, Florida 32304
(904) 488-107/488-1167
January 25, 1974
Honorable Reubin O'D. Askew
Governor of Florida
The Capitol
Tallahassee, Florida 32304
Honorable Mallory E. Horne
President of the Senate
The Capitol
Tallahassee, Florida 32304
Honorable Terrell Sessums
Speaker of the House
The Capitol
Tallahassee, Florida 32304
Gentlemen:
We have been requested to respond to the energy effects of Daylight Saving Time. The following information is offered for your use.
The Office of Energy Conservation, now part of the Federal Energy Office, made calculations on the equivalent petroleum savings in electrical power consumption for going to Daylight Saving Time. The national equivalent savings estimated for the shift to Daylight Time is 100 thousand barrels per day. This is approximately 1% of the petroleum use for the nation.
Normally, the peak hours for electrical use occur in the afternoon, usually starting around 4:00 p.m. During these peak hours, the power company, in order to meet the load, must operate their less efficient generating units and thus, the amount of fuel burned to generate a given amount of kilowatt hours is increased. If the peak hour load can be reduced, then fewer inefficient generating units will be required to operate. By shifting to Daylight saving Time, we move some of the electrical load from the afternoon

hours to the morning hours where the peak demand is usually lower. Thus, this shift in electrical load, even though the same total number of kilowatt hours may be required, allows the use of the more efficient units for generating power. It is estimated that this effect accounts for approximately half of the 100 thousand barrels per day Savings.
The balance of the Savings occurs as an absolute or direct savings resulting from the behavioral habits affecting energy expenditure, particularly in the home. In shifting activities from the afternoon to the morning hours, less energy intensive activities develop (less TV, lighting, etc.). This evidence was obtained from a statistical study | of residential consumption as a function of evening versus morning hours.
There is, of course, uncertainty in the estimates that are made for fuel savings and this uncertainty has been estimated to be of the order of plus 1% and minus 1/23 of the total use. This means that the national savings may be as low as 50 thousand barrels per day or as high as 200 thousand barrels per day. In arriving at the above numbers, consideration was taken of potential additional energy expenditures. For example, additional travel may occur in the morning or evening hours.
Attached to this memo are some curves we have prepared from data received from several Florida utilities. Daylight Saving Time went into effect on the sixth of January so we have plotted data for the second, ninth, and sixteenth of January for electrical load on the same day of each week. , You will note, for example, that the peak demand shown prior to Daylight Time on January 2 for Florida Power and Light is about 200 thousand kilowatts more than that occurring immediately after the institution of Daylight Saving Time. This represents a reduction in peak demand of approximately 4% of the maximum demand. Similarly, data from other Florida utilities also indicate reductions.

There is little question that savings is incurred from Daylight Time. There is uncertainty as to the extent of the savings and this is a function not only of the type of load on a particular utility network, but also the geographic location of the states in question. It is unfortunate that we do not have detailed data for the state of Florida, but it is likely that such data would have at least as great an uncertainty as exists for the federal data.
It is important also to recognize that the savings quoted is an oil equivalent savings and does not represent | the true Savings in petroleum alone. This is because some of the savings will be in terms of coal, some in terms of nuclear, etc. If the Florida savings is similar to the rest of fancy then the savings in this state would be about (3000 barrels per day for Daylight Saving Time.
Our staff has also performed an analysis of the authority of the state legislature with respect to the Federal Emergency Daylight Saving Time Act of 1973. In addition, the staff has prepared a technical bill that would be necessary to enact the law pursuant to the federal bill.
Sincerely,
Marvin Yarosh [signed]
Marvin M. Yarosh
Executive Director
MMY/jk
cc: Honorable George Firestone
Honorable Kenneth H. MacKay, Jr.

[Graph depicting hourly demand of megawatts over time from Florida Power Corporation]

[Graph depicting hourly demand of megawatts over time from Gulf Power Company]

[Graph depicting hourly demand of megawatts over time from Florida Power and Light Company]

In 1973, the United States was facing energy shortages and developed a variety of approaches to conserve energy as a result, including the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act of 1973. This legislation established a trial period of year-round Daylight Saving Time (DST) from January 6, 1974 to April 27, 1975. The hope was that an extra hour of daylight in the evening would reduce energy consumption, especially the use of electricity.
In Florida, the change to year-round DST came with serious consequences. In the first few weeks after the time change was enacted, several school-aged children were injured in traffic accidents in the dark mornings on their way to school.
In response to these accidents, there was an outpouring of citizen correspondence to Governor Askew expressing their opinions on year-round DST and whether or not Florida should move to counteract the Federal mandate within the state.
On January 29th, 1974, the Florida Legislature met for a special session to discuss DST. At the end of this session, no legislation was passed, and Florida continued to comply with the year-round Daylight Saving Time that President Nixon established.
In 2018, the Florida Legislature passed the “Sunshine Protection Act” (HB1013/SB858), stating that Florida will enact a year-round DST, provided that the federal Uniform Time Act of 1966 is amended to permit states to do so.