Mitch Perry
The nascent activist group Conservatives for Energy Freedom will be holding its first town hall meeting in the Sunshine State, appropriately enough, the Sunshine Center in St. Petersburg tonight beginning at 6:30 p.m. as it starts its statewide “Energy Choice Listening Tour.”
Organizers say they want the public to speak out about issues they’ve had with Duke Energy, the North Carolina-based provide of local public power, as well as the lack of energy choices available because of Public Service Commission (PSC) policies.
“Florida PSC apparently only listens to the giant monopolies and big money,” said Debbie Dooley, the founder of the Green Tea Coalition and Conservatives for Energy Freedom. “Conservatives for Energy Freedom wants to hear from utility customers. We will be asking utility customers what rights they would like to have in regards to Duke Energy that they are currently being denied now.”
Dooley is a founding member of the national Tea Party and a leader of the Atlanta Tea Party, but she says she’s always been a free-market conservative, and learned in Georgia that solar power was a way to allow consumer choice and to give energy monopolies competition.
Under Florida law, only utilities can sell electricity to customers. Businesses and homeowners may install solar panels on their properties, but any excess electricity must be put back onto the grid.
The Green Tea Coalition, however, wants a constitutional amendment on Florida’s 2016 ballot that would allow individuals or businesses with solar installations to sell power to tenants or neighbors. They’ll be collecting signatures at tonight’s even.
Organizers say the town hall will have three parts. The first will be listening to the public’s complaints regarding energy issues; part two will consist of hearing about impediments in Florida to having more energy choices, and part three will be about possible solutions.
Among those solutions will be the state Sen. Jeff Brandes proposal that would remove tangible property tax on solar installations and and the “Floridians for solar choice” ballot initiative.
The St. Petersburg Sunshine Center is located at 330 Fifth St. N.
