FLORIDA CUTS SUPPORT FOR NEW ENERGY

The Sunshine State Cuts Its Commitment To Solar Power

Katie Valentine, December 1, 2014 (Climate Progress)

“Florida’s Public Service Commission voted [3-2] to cut energy efficiency targets for power companies and to do away with a solar rebate program… [The move] was based off of proposals from Duke Energy Florida, Tampa Electric, and Florida Power & Light. The commission also voted…to hold a workshop before 2015 ends to try to determine how Florida could implement cost-effective solar programs…[E]nvironmentalists and renewable energy advocates in Florida…[One environmentalist said the vote blurred the] line between the PSC and the monopoly utilities they are charged with regulating…

“…[A Florida Power & Light spokesperson] said the solar rebate program was a pilot program that was set to expire at the end of next December anyway, and that the PSC voted to allow it to do so because it wasn’t cost effective…Florida has no renewable portfolio standard and, under a rule that allows only utilities to sell power to customers, has made solar leasing and power purchase agreements difficult…[T]he state is third in the nation for solar potential but ranked 18th in 2013 for total installed solar power capacity…Florida’s slowness to adopt pro-renewable energy policies is in stark contrast to the [low-lying, coastal] state’s particular vulnerability to climate change…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet