OKALOOSA ISLAND — The future of Northwest Florida’s success as a tourism destination will depend on the preservation of the region’s environment.
That was a key message at the Power Up Energy Expo, the largest energy and sustainability conference along the Gulf Coast. The theme for this year’s event is “Creating a Clean Energy Economy.”
The first panel discussion of the conference on Monday focused specifically on building a resilient Gulf Coast following the aftermath of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Dan O’Byrne, tourist development director for Okaloosa County, was one of the panelists. He discussed the links between energy sustainability, the environment and tourism.
“Every state back in the late ’70s, as it was trying to do economic development and create jobs for its people, looked around and said, ‘What do we have and how does it compare with what some of the other states may have?’ And it typically focused on the environment, whether it was rivers for fishing or mountains for skiing or the ocean, whether that be the Pacific or the Atlantic or the gulf,” O’Byrne said.
The Power Up Energy Expo, hosted by the Gulf Coast Energy Network, Gulf Power and National Energy, started on Monday at the Emerald Coast Convention Center and continues through Wednesday. Although the sessions are open only to registered attendees, the expo’s vendor hall will be open to the public from 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday.
The vendor hall will feature booths and displays set up by more than 30 companies and utilities and will feature displays ranging from the latest solar panels to new energy-efficient items for the home and business. The new Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf and Tesla sedan will also be on display.
The Power Up expo was created in 2009 and was held at the Emerald Coast Convention Center its first two years. The past two years, it has been held at Pensacola Beach.
O’Byrne discussed the impact the Deepwater Horizon oil spill had on tourism in Okaloosa County and the way the county has rebounded since. From 2010 to 2011, bed tax collections were up 32 percent in Okaloosa. From 2011 to 2012, bed tax collections were up another 14 percent. For this year, collections are up slightly more than 2 percent year to date.
“Our growth has been really sustainable,” O’Byrne added. “It has not dropped back down to where it was pre-oil spill, and the reason for that I believe is the greater United States was exposed ... to the Gulf Coast as a destination.
“There really is an excitement about where this destination can go because ultimately, we’re in the same business that all of you are in,” O’Byrne added. “It’s trying to protect the environment so it can be a meaningful economic engine for us, lower transportation costs for our potential guests trying to get here and then, as guardians of the asset, to make sure we’re doing our part so that future generations can enjoy what we have.”
Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Gordon Fornell discussed Eglin Air Force Base’s ongoing efforts to become more energy efficient. Without discussing specifics, Fornell said Eglin had worked with its utility providers to have more than $13 million in efficiency projects installed, resulting in $1.4 million in annual savings.
“There are a number of new energy initiatives to meet the mandates that we have,” Fornell said. “We have an experiment under way with natural gas-powered vehicles looking at a potential project with the state and the base itself. Many people don’t realize it, but we have the largest vehicle fleet in the world at Eglin Air Force Base because of the patrol requirements that we have.
“We’re looking forward to more projects,” he added.
If you go: The expo’s vendor hall will be open to the public from 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday. Items ranging from electric cars to solar panels and energy-efficient items for the home and business will be on display.
Contact Daily News Business Editor Dusty Ricketts at 850-315-4448 or dricketts@nwfdailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @DustyRnwfdn.