Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster
Add another $300,000 to Consumers for Smart Solar’s coffers.
State records show Consumers for Smart Solar, the group backing the solar power amendment, raised $300,000 between Oct. 1 and Oct. 7. Records show the committee received two contributions for $150,000 each from the Partnership for Affordable Clean Energy and the Florida Faith and Freedom Coalition.
The Partnership for Affordable Clean Energy is a Montgomery, Alabama-based coalition of “working people, business owners, environmentalists, and trade organizations who are fighting for fair, responsible energy policies.”
Amendment 1 is backed by the state’s major electric companies, and outlines the rules for solar power in Florida. It would put existing law dealing with the rights of homeowners and businesses to own or lease solar equipment into the state constitution.
Consumers for Smart Solar spent $352,133 during the same time period. That sum included $310,138 for direct mail.
Mailers began hitting Floridians’ mailboxes in September, encouraging them to support the solar initiative. The mailers call the proposal “a straightforward plan that encourages solar.”
The committee has raised more than $21.5 million since July 2015. It had more than $2.1 million in the bank at the end of the most recent fundraising cycle.
