Mar. 22--Thirty-one states have one.

Florida may be the next state to adopt a standard for generating electricity from renewable resources.

No one knows for sure what the standard will be, as legislators weigh the options offered by lobbyists from the power industry and environmental groups.

But the state's electric utilities say a mandate for renewable power is almost certain and are making plans to secure more solar power, wind power and power made from biomass.

This month, Tampa Electric Co. announced a partnership to build what may be one of the nation's largest solar power plants near Mulberry in Polk County. Tampa Electric President Chuck Black said the utility made the deal "to get ahead of the requirements that we think are coming out of the Legislature this year."

Requiring electric utilities to get 20 percent of their power from renewable resources by 2020 is the standard supported by Gov. Charlie Crist and recommended by the Florida Public Service Commission.

The state now generates less than 3 percent of its power from renewable resources.

The PSC's recommendation was based largely on a study by Navigant Consulting, which gauged the state's potential for generating renewable power.

Florida utilities could generate at least 24 percent of their power from renewable resources by 2020, the study found.

The study also showed that Florida could generate 3,800 megawatts of solar power and create more than 100,000 jobs if a 20 percent standard is adopted, regardless of when. According to Navigant, each megawatt would create 15 to 30 jobs.

But renewable power is more expensive than power made from coal and natural gas. If the state moves too fast, the cost of electricity could surge to unreasonable levels, said Mike Twomey, a consumer advocate for AARP.

Solar power, for example, costs about 32 cents per kilowatt hour to produce, three times more expensive than coal-fired power, he said.

In these tough economic times, consumers can't afford to pay much more for electricity, Twomey said.

"We've got record unemployment, record foreclosures and record numbers of people being disconnected at current rates," he said. "This will make it even worse."

Pointing to requests by Progress Energy and Tampa Electric to raise base service rates, Twomey said electric bills are going to rise even without a requirement to produce more expensive renewable power.

Some are counting on the development of renewable energy as a way to bring more jobs to Florida.

But job creation should not be one of the goals of a renewable portfolio standard, Twomey said.