Wednesday morning in Tallahassee a coalition representing conservatives, environmentalists and business groups will launch its grassroots campaign to give Floridians the choice of getting solar power on the ballot next year.
As was discussed frequently in the past election year, energy and elected officials haven’t been in much of a hurry to get on the bandwagon on expanding solar power in the Sunshine State. Out of an estimated 9 million customer accounts in the state, only about 6,000 are powered by solar, according to the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. The state ranks 3rd in potential for solar but lags behind other states at 18th in the amount of solar in use.
The attitude about solar power among high-ranking officials was perhaps best expressed by Public Service Commission (PSC) Chairman Art Graham at a hearing last November, when he said, “I think the whole ‘Sunshine State’ is just a license plate slogan.”
At that same hearing, the PSC decided to make major cuts to the state’s renewable energy goals and ending a rebate program for home installation of solar panels.
But a new burst of energy from a nascent group in Florida called Conservatives for Energy Freedom is leading a coalition of groups who intend to push for a constitutional amendment on the 2016 ballot that would allow residents to sell electricity generated from the sun directly to their neighbors, tenants and friends, instead of giving the utilities a cut.
“The people want to have their voices heard, and so many times the only voice that is heard is that of the very powerful monopolies and their money drowns out the voices of everyday citizens. This referendum will give it back to the citizens of Florida,” says Debbie Dooley with the Green Tea Coalition and co-founder of Conservatives for Energy Freedom as she drove down from Georgia to Tallahassee for Wednesday’s press conference.
In addition, other speakers at Wednesday’s news conference include Scott McIntyre, the CEO of Solar Energy Management; Dr. Stephen A. Smith, the executive director with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy; and Randy Miller, senior vice president of government affairs with the Florida Retail Federation.
“People need to understand, groups that are backed by corporations that have interests in fossil fuel, they’re going to try to stop the competition,” Dooley says. “The monopolies want to stop the competition, because every time they have to construct a new power plant, they make a guaranteed 10.5-11 percent profit off of the construction costs.”
Dooley then referred to how Florida Power & Light
won permission from the PSC last month to sign a 30-year contract with Louisiana-based PetroQuest to conduct exploratory drilling (i.e. fracking) for natural gas in southeastern Oklahoma, with the $191 million cost spread to customer bills. “I think this ballot initiative is something that is important. It gives consumers the freedom to choose. And I think that is a very important thing.”
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Mitch Perry
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