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posted by cmn32480 on Saturday October 24 2015, @03:06PM   Printer-friendly
from the what-sunny-state-will-be-next dept.

The Center for American Progress reports

Solar power could soon be flourishing [in] the Sunshine State. [On October 22,] the Florida Supreme Court approved [PDF] an initiative for the 2016 ballot that would allow Floridians to vote to reduce the state's restrictions on rooftop solar power.

Although solar is growing exponentially nationwide, it has not thrived in Florida. Florida is one of a handful of states that prohibit residents from purchasing electricity from a source other than an electric utility. This has locked out third-party solar rooftop companies, such as SolarCity and SunRun, which install rooftop solar panels on a customer's property at no cost and sell solar-generated power to that customer at a reduced electric rate.

As ThinkProgress previously reported, a coalition of solar advocates called Floridians for Solar Choice has been leading the effort to change this policy by pursuing a ballot initiative to permit third-party financing for rooftop solar by private companies. To get the initiative on the ballot, Florida required the coalition to first collect 68,314 voter signatures and then have the initiative language approved by the state Supreme Court.

On [October 22], the ballot initiative cleared this major hurdle when the Florida Supreme Court approved the "Solar Choice Amendment" for the November 2016 ballot. Advocates now have to collect the requisite 683,149 signatures to ensure the initiative goes on the ballot. It will then have to pass with 60 percent of the vote in 2016.

[...] In 2008, the Florida [Public Service Commission--the state body responsible for regulating electricity--]released a report saying that rooftop solar alone had the potential to generate nearly 100 times [the current 530 MW derived from renewables in Florida]. [PDF]

Meanwhile, "public servant" Pam Bondi, Florida's Attorney General, continues to fight on multiple fronts to block renewables.


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  • (Score: 2) by mmcmonster on Saturday October 24 2015, @06:18PM

    by mmcmonster (401) on Saturday October 24 2015, @06:18PM (#254050)

    And this is why those with money are able to keep their money, invest their money, and otherwise, gain the benefits of having their money.

    But what I am describing isn't control. It's human nature.

    It's human nature to avoid the large initial outlay for a benefit you'll get a decade in the future (deferred pleasure).

    Those that want to buy the solar panels outright are welcome to do so under current Florida law (apparently). It's the "lease with option to buy" which is outlawed.

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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by frojack on Saturday October 24 2015, @08:00PM

    by frojack (1554) on Saturday October 24 2015, @08:00PM (#254082) Journal

    No, its not lease with option to buy that is outlawed. That would be perfectly ok in Florida if the contract was written that way.
    If they sold you the equipment on an installment plan, that would be fine too.

    But these companies are selling electricity by the KWH.

    Electricity is just dangerous enough that its sale and distribution is regulated in every single state in the union, and every Canadian province.
    Some of these companies have developed a way to end-run just about all regulation other than the Electrical Code.

    Florida law only allows a few utilities such as Florida Power & Light, Duke Energy and Tampa Electric to sell power directly to consumers. If a solar power generator wants to get into the state market, it must first sell to one of those utilities. This applies to wind turbines, private generation plants, and also commercial solar farms. They all have to sell to the grid operators rather than directly to consumers.

    There are several big-companies in this Install-on-your-roof-for-free business in many states. They aren't selling solar systems, they are selling Electricity by the KWH. The homeowner never owns the equipment. The power never flows over the grid. (In most cases the houses still need or have a grid inter-tie.)

    The state is trying to prevent these companies from doing business in Florida with that business model. Probably at the behest of the large gird operators.

    But you shouldn't assume all of the lobbying against the state regulations is "grass roots" either. There is a lot going on behind the scenes here.

    Companies like SunSolar [sunsolarus.com] are pretty circumspect about how and who you pay for your electricity, and what happens when you decide to sell your home.
    And abuses of this model [newsmax.com] are common. [dailycaller.com]

    Removing the prohibition of this business model had better come with some consumer protection or there will be a lot of pissed off customers down the line.

    --
    No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2015, @02:01AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2015, @02:01AM (#254487)

      This is one scam that Florida doesn't currently have. Good. Let's keep it that way.

      The law should change in just a few ways for solar. First, providing a bit of fairness, retail electrical bills need to split the grid maintenance costs out. Everybody hooked up to the grid should be paying that, and it shouldn't depend on power usage. Power usage should be billed separately. Second, homeowner associations should have no ability to restrict solar. Florida does at least keep them from 100% banning solar, but really they should have no say at all.