Staff Reports
The committee backing Amendment 1 took in another $560,000 between Oct. 7 and Oct. 14, all of it from Florida Power & Light.
Consumers for Smart Solar has now raised more than $22 million this cycle and had about $1.5 million of that money on hand Oct. 14.
FPL has donated about $6.1 million of Consumers’ total fundraising, with another $5.7 million coming from Duke Energy, $3 million from Tampa Electric, and $2.2 million from Gulf Power Company.
The utility-backed amendment would add to the Florida Constitution the right for residents to own or lease solar panels, though residents already have that right.
The amendment would also prevent consumers who don’t use solar power from having to subsidize backup electrical grid access for those who do, a measure some environmental groups say will jack up prices for solar power.
A poll from St. Leo University, released Sept. 30, found 84 percent support for the amendment, while a Sept. 26 poll from the Florida Chamber Political Institute found 66 percent of Florida voters would vote for the proposal.
Constitutional amendments in Florida must have 60 percent support to pass.
