Jim Rosica
Of the groups behind two solar-power constitutional amendments competing to get on the 2016 ballot, one currently has more signatures, but the other now has raised gobs more cash.
The utility-backed Consumers for Smart Solar has raised nearly $3.8 million, including $2.3 million in October alone, according to online campaign finance reports. The latest disclosures were due Tuesday.
Of that $2.3 million, a combined $1.1 million was chipped in by Duke Energy, Tampa Electric Co., Gulf Power Co. and Florida Power & Light, campaign finance records show. Another $350,000 came from the 60 Plus Association, a conservative alternative to AARP.
At the same time, the group actually spent more than it took in that month, reporting expenditures of close to $2.6 million. Overall, Consumers for Smart Solar has about $191,000 cash on hand.
Its competitor, Floridians for Solar Choice, reported almost $458,000 for October, bringing its total to a little more than $1.3 million. Its total expenditures are just over $1 million, leaving it nearly $277,000 cash on hand.
That group, a coalition of progressive and conservative interests, leads in signatures 207,018 to 154,747, according to the Division of Elections website.
Floridians for Solar Choice released a statement Wednesday, the day after the latest financial reporting deadline, saying it was “strong and advancing” toward getting its language before voters.
Among other things, an initiative needs 683,149 signatures to get on the ballot, then must capture 60 percent of the vote to be added to the state constitution. Both initiatives are aiming for the 2016 ballot.
“We continue to aggressively move to secure the required signatures, and we call on all Florida citizens who believe in Solar Choice and clean energy to join our effort,” said Dr. Stephen Smith, the executive director of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and the founding member of Floridians for Solar Choice.
He said his group has another 200,000 petitions “signed and awaiting verification.” That amendment last month was cleared by the Florida Supreme Court, which OK’d its language and ballot summary.
Its language aims at lifting “barriers to supplying local solar electricity,” which opponents — including Attorney General Pam Bondi — have taken as allowing out-of-state concerns to operate without regulation.
Consumers for Smart Solar also has called into question a new monthly fee the competing amendment would create. Floridians for Solar Choice attorney Bob Nabors has described a “standby charge” that would be “uniformly applied.”
The amendment sponsored by Consumers for Smart Solar “ensure(s) that consumers who do not choose to install solar are not required to subsidize the costs of backup power and electric grid access to those who do.”
