FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Florida Power & Light demolished its Port Everglades Power Plant on Tuesday morning.
Four blue boilers and the plant's landmark red-and-white smoke stacks were the last structures to go, creating 16,000 tons of debris.
WATCH: Power plant demolition
"It's a pretty impressive sight to see," said FPL President Eric Silagy.
Crews worked for months to demolish the aging facility.
"Always a sign of relief. There's been a lot of planning that goes into this," said Buck Martinez, a spokesman for FPL. "Now what you see is obviously a lot of rubble. The light-blue structures are the boilers and most of that will be recycled."
It will take about six months for workers to clear the debris. Ninety-eight percent of the debris will be recycled.
FPL is replacing the plant with a state-of-the-art, high-efficiency power generating facility. It will burn natural gas, which FPL said is 35 percent more efficient and gives off less emissions.
"The computer technology, the new technology we're putting in now makes these so very efficient," said Silagy. "It's an opportunity for us to invest, not just in Florida, but also in America and our fight to be more energy independent and reduce our consumption of foreign oil."
FPL is fronting the $1 billion to build the new plant. Customers will likely see an increase in their base rates when the new plant goes online in 2016 to repay FPL for the capital investment.
But the company said over the 30-year life of the plant, the reduction in fuel charges will result in a net savings of $400 million for customers.