June 1, 2015 | By Jaclyn Brandt

A Florida initiative is calling for a statewide constitutional amendment for solar. The ballot initiative, organized by Floridians for Solar Choice (FSC), would end a ban on residents buying electricity from companies that put solar panels on homes and businesses.

Credit: MGA73bot2/Wikimedia Commons

The proposal needs 683,149 signatures to be put on the 2016 ballot.

"As an organization -- and as an industry -- we strongly support the efforts of Floridians for Solar Choice," said Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) President and CEO Rhone Resch in a statement. "If this ballot initiative is approved, solar development across the state will explode, creating thousands of new jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in new economic activity. Most importantly, this is about consumer choice. That's why this initiative is being supported by groups as diverse as the Sierra Club, the Christian Coalition of America, the Florida Retail Federation and the Tea Party Network. These groups all recognize, like we do, that people have a fundamental right to choose their energy source and have a real say in what they pay for their electricity."

There are currently more than 86,000 signatures that have been collected statewide, which allows Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to send a review by the Financial Impact Estimating Conference (FIEC) to Florida's Supreme Court for its review.

The FIEC impact statement found that "Based on current laws and administration, the amendment will result in decreased state and local government revenues overall. The timing and magnitude of these decreases cannot be determined because they are dependent on various technological and economic factors that cannot be predicted with certainty. State and local governments will incur additional costs, which will likely be minimal and partially offset by fees."

The Supreme Court is also reviewing the ballot petition language to make sure it meets with constitutional requirements.

"We are pleased with the outcome of the FIEC review and that the Floridians for Solar Choice ballot initiative has completed another step in the evaluation process. We agree with the conclusion reached by this body that the ballot initiative will not increase state and local taxes. While more consumer-cited solar energy systems may cause a change in how power is produced in the Sunshine State, there are overwhelming economic advantages to allowing the free market and customer choice to play a greater role in Florida's energy mix," said Tory Perfetti, Chairman of Floridians for Solar Choice. "This campaign continues to gather support and signatures and looks forward to having voters decide in 2016 on removing barriers to solar choice in Florida."

The 683,149 required signatures must be collected by Feb. 1, 2016. According to FSC, the goal of the ballot proposal is to "expand solar choice by removing barriers that limit solar ownership models." Georgia just passed HB 57, a bill that would create many of the same opportunities as the Florida petition is looking for. The passage leaves Florida as one of only four states where residential and commercial customers are not allowed to buy solar directly from anyone other than an electric utility or government-owned electric utility.

Duke Energy and Florida Power & Light (FPL) are the two major utilities in the state. Randy Wheeless, communications manager at Duke Energy, told FierceEnergy, "We are expanding our solar portfolio in Florida. However, we  want to make sure any proposal to boost solar does it right and keeps this resource growing in a sustainable way to the benefit of all customers."

According to SEIA, there is currently more than 234 megawatts (MW) of installed solar capacity in Florida, but SEIA said the state has more potential for solar -- but only if the petition goes before Florida voters.

"Florida has the potential to quickly become a Top 5 solar state, while saving money for homeowners, businesses, schools, churches and local governments," said Resch.

For more:
- view the petition
- see this impact statement

http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/floridians-fight-their-right-choose-solar/2015-06-01