Update 03/07/2022: The Florida legislature has passed SB 1024, sending the bill to Gov. Ron DeSantis’s desk.
Legislation filed yesterday in the Florida Legislature aims to end net metering for rooftop solar customers, effectively shutting down this key sector of the state economy and undermining energy freedom for tens of thousands of Floridians.
Republican Sen. Jennifer Bradley introduced SB 1024, which aims to “revise and provide legislative findings relating to the redesign of net metering to avoid cross-subsidization of electric service costs between classes of ratepayers” and require the Public Service Commission to propose new net metering rules that comply with specified criteria by a certain date; while authorizing certain customers who own or lease renewable generation before a specified date to remain under the existing net metering rules for a specified time.
National and state solar advocates are calling on lawmakers to reject this legislation and allow the state’s rooftop solar market to continue growing.
“This is a tired tactic that utilities have used to maintain their monopoly grip on electricity markets. Net metering is a popular program that gives people the right to choose the energy that works for them, provides benefits to all ratepayers and creates thousands of energy jobs across Florida. The bill is another of a long line of cynical efforts carried out in the state of Florida at the behest of monopoly utilities to the detriment of Florida residents,” said Will Giese, southeast regional director for SEIA, in a statement. “Stripping Floridians of their right to choose solar is simply bad policy. The bill does not consider the many benefits that solar provides to all ratepayers and it will weaken one of the fastest-growing sectors in Florida’s economy. Florida has the second-largest solar workforce in the country and ranks third among states for installed solar capacity. The state is poised to maintain its solar leadership in the years ahead, but this bill would stamp out that economic growth just as it is ramping up.”
Justin Vandenbroeck, president of the Florida Solar Energy Industries Association (FlaSEIA), said his organization is still analyzing the full impact of the legislation.
“Initial modeling suggests this plan has the potential to set the rooftop solar industry back nearly a decade, erasing thousands of jobs, ending consumer choice and eliminating savings, along with the resiliency benefits that rooftop solar offers to Floridians,” Vandenbroeck said in a statement. “We look forward to working with state policymakers to protect local jobs, consumer choice and the economic development produced through the vibrant solar market in the Sunshine State.”
News item from SEIA
There are two simple ways around this business. Install a hybrid system that only draws from the grid when solar and battery are insufficient or install Zero Export Grid Tie. Eliminate the grid tie meter fees, insurance, capacity fees, etc. If equipped with battery, ZEGT can provide power around the clock. These solutions cost a little more up front, but quickly pay back in savings. With the hybrid version, the lights stay on after the hurricane when the grid is down. Any business selling grid-tie systems in some areas is doing its customers a disservice.
Utilities make money on return on Capital invested. Generation and Distribution must be split but that failed in the early 2000’s on the Federal Level. Think Death Care is screwed up? Look at the IOU’s.
It’s not that big of a deal for me personally (but I can certainly see how horrible this is for most people and the solar industry in general). My response will be to buy batteries and to go completely off the grid. Duke can say “goodbye” to the $13 that I send them every month for the metering service.
It’s illegal to be off grid in the state of Florida. So your solution is not an option, and if net metering goes away off grid becomes even more of a pipe dream.
Can you reference the law that says you cant generate your own power in florida?
That is a good question that I have not found yet. Years ago I recall reading about a woman in the Keys who went off all public utilities. I think the outcome was she went to court and lost. I have no idea what she had set up in place. But, with as many of us with solar today, FPL might be subject to monopoly case and lose. I do not believe the motive is entirely homes. Instead I believe FPL does not want to lose large businesses and corporations to solar ownership if they can’t own the source.
Not illegal. Law says that you must be connected to an “approved” power system. If the county inspector says it is ok, it is ok. I remember a time when not all my school mates had electricity…and now it is mandated. I think this came from UN Agenda 21 and a requirement that properties be maintained in a certain way. That is curious in that an awful lot of people in the world live in tin shacks and mud huts, but we don’t get to choose.
Time to alert the residents of Florida that this is taking place
We need to find out who authored the bill and who is contributing to her campaign and when we discover the connection between the author and the senator we need to expose the connection and prosecute the illegal and unethical activities that are attempting to control out ability to pursue or freedoms as americans. Our ancestors gave us our freedom and its up to us to give it to our future generations. This Senator is obviously not able to understand her responsibilities or worse doesn’t care about our freedom.
“National and state solar advocates are calling on lawmakers to reject this legislation and allow the state’s rooftop solar market to continue growing.”
In California it was a Democrat candidate that sponsored AB1134 that proposed excess energy at the wholesale rate and a $65 to $90 “connection charge” every month. Fortunately, this died in committee and didn’t rise to the occasion of a Legislative vote. In Florida it is now a Republican sponsoring this bill SB1024 to try and do the same thing, basically protect the rote IOU electric utilities to embolden their “regulated monopoly” status in corporate America. Just like the FP&L and Duke backed Amendment 1 of 2016, which Floridians rejected by vote, the Legislature “should ” have caught on, this is NOT what the people want. I would expect the same move in California sooner or later, to rear its ugly head once again.
““This is a tired tactic that utilities have used to maintain their monopoly grip on electricity markets. Net metering is a popular program that gives people the right to choose the energy that works for them, provides benefits to all ratepayers and creates thousands of energy jobs across Florida.””
This argument that net metering is “unfair” is the willingly ignorant agenda of the IOU electric utilities across the U.S.. You get to hear plenty about residential solar PV adopters ‘not’ paying their fair share of operations and maintenance costs and yet NOT A WORD about the utility enjoying distributed energy generation that is synchronized to the grid at the right frequency and voltage to use locally saving electricity loss inefficiencies along the grid. This ‘avoided cost’ is not even in the narrative when the utility cries foul about net metering. The utility doesn’t have to buy property, float loans or bonds, get a right of way, purchase, install, maintain or insure the residential solar PV system and yet take no consideration as to the actual “value” of local distributed energy.