Jun 22 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Kevin Turner The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville



It used to be that Frank Erickson had no shortage of solar collectors and other such projects to install at local homes and businesses -- his Jacksonville company has grossed about $2 million in business in the last nine months, he said.

But with the failure of the Florida Legislature to renew the Solar Energy Systems Incentives Program, business is down to nothing and he's talking about moving his company to Georgia or South Carolina -- both of which have better state commitment to solar, he said.

"I don't know whether we will have another project in Florida," said Erickson, president of Jacksonville-based Erickson Energy. "It kills the photovoltaic [solar power generation] industry as we know it."

Erickson isn't alone. The state rebate program, which helped Jacksonville's small solar businesses sell renewable energy systems to local customers, ends June 30, and that means real trouble for those businesses if it isn't replaced, local alternative energy representatives say.

 The state's solar rebate program, established in 2006, paid a rebate of $4 for every watt a solar system rated between 2,000 watts and 5,000 watts generated. At low end, a 2,000-watt system costing $15,000 netted an $8,000 state rebate and a $4,500 federal tax credit for a $12,500 cost savings, Erickson said. A high-end $40,000 5,000-watt home system meant a $20,000 state rebate and a federal credit of $12,000.

Taken together, the two credits meant about 80 percent of the system was subsidized.

During the last legislative session, there was no shortage of input from the public and private companies encouraging the rebate program be preserved, according to Robert Vickers, director of the Governor's Energy Office. But it didn't have enough support in a tight budget year and died in committee as the session ended.

Florida lags in the solar arena, compared to other states, according to Kevin Cassell, director of sales for Ponte Vedra-based SNRY Solar Energy Initiatives, which sells solar equipment nationwide.

"The incentives in Florida really aren't strong enough to support solar development," he said, noting the state's utility rates are relatively low. Because SNRY does business nationally, Florida's situation doesn't hurt it critically, but he said he could understand the impact to a Florida small solar business that does more local work.

Several other alternative energy programs are still in place, Vickers said. The Florida Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act, creates a $24.5 million fund annually -- through ratepayer funds -- that allows individual utilities to fund energy-saving initiatives in their coverage area. The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant allows local governments to apply for grant money to fund solar and other energy-saving projects, said Matt Stamatoff, senior grant manager for the Governor's Energy Office.

JEA has the Green Built Homes of Florida Builder Rebate Program, which offers a maximum rebate of $1,500 per home constructed with energy-saving resources; and the Solar Incentive Program, which rebates $400-$800 for homeowners who install solar water heaters and offers commercial businesses 30 percent of the upgrade or $5,000.

But none of those replace the rebate program that helped businesses that sell alternative energy systems to homeowners and other businesses, Erickson said. It was the only one that directly benefitted solar and alternative energy installers and wasn't backed by an electrical utility, he said.

Erickson is quick to point out that the rebate program's subsidized chunk is so big because solar system prices have dropped by nearly half since the program was created. The subsidies are necessary to keep the up-front costs competitive with other energies, he said. And government subsidies are typical for virtually all energy projects, he said. He said the per-kilowatt rebate level should be slashed to $2 to keep with current pricing -- but not abandoned altogether.

"No policy at all kills everything," he said.

It's killed a number of Erickson's projects, he said. He said he had 8 megawatts in commercial solar projects that are now dead. Some are small businesses, some are huge companies. Many have everything they needed to proceed, but the non-renewal of the rebate represented a lack of commitment to solar on the state level and the investors pulled out, he said.

Also dead, or at least delayed is his own project, the Southeast Renewable Energy Center. The project would showcase several types of solar and other types of alternative energy at the site of his office. He said it had $100 million from the same investors that helped build robust solar programs in states like New Jersey, California and Pennsylvania.

Tom Larson, Florida Energy Policy Manager for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, an advocacy group for energy reform in the Southeast, said that in the future, solar electricity generation may be so pervasive that utilities will become an Internet of electricity. Utilities would purchase surplus power from homes and businesses with photovoltaic systems, and route electricity uploads and downloads, rather than just providing it.

But Larson said utility companies have a reason to take measured steps toward that future.

"They make money selling power," he said. "They don't want to buy power from third parties. The utilities in Florida are being paid on a 20th century model."

And as of June 30, that future will get a little farther away -- at least in Florida.

"Next month, we have two projects in Georgia," Erickson said.

kevin.turner@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4609

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