Disparity in Florida incentives make solar installations for homeowners and small businesses not so sunny…
Florida Power & Light Co. can recoup from customers the full $70 million cost of its new solar plant at Kennedy Space Center.
Mark Napoli, on the other hand, will get back in government rebates only about half the $44,000 cost of the solar system he installed on his Palm Bay home.
The disparity in incentives between large and small producers of solar power has Florida’s market for renewable energy stuck in low gear, a coalition of renewable energy interests says. They want to help the little guy get in on the action by creating incentives similar to those used by states such as Arizona and Oregon, which they argue are way ahead of Florida in promoting renewable energy.
Today, Florida only allows small suppliers, including homeowners, to get credit on their electric bills for the excess solar energy they create.
But an alliance of Florida renewable energy interests plans to propose a system in which small solar-system owners, through long-term purchase agreements with utilities, can finance solar power and sell excess back to the grid or other customers.
Although the alliance has yet to reveal details of how it would work, they hope even small residential solar installations might be able to bid competitively to sell their power to utilities or other customers.
“That’s free market at its finest,” said Mike Antheil, executive director of the Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy, a coalition of business, manufacturing, farming and other renewable energy interests. “One guy wants to sell it to another guy — and the government says you can’t do it.”
The alliance wants all producers of renewable energy to be allowed to connect to the grid and sell their electricity to utility companies. Utilities could sign 20-year contracts with all the renewable producers, they say, which would include long-term set prices high enough to create incentive for new producers to expand.
Such “distributed” power would create a more stable solar market and more jobs, they say, than the current centralized system where FPL and other large utilities dominate. That means more installers, electricians, and roofers back to work.
But some in the solar industry suspect FPL, one of the largest campaign contributors in Florida, and other large utilities have too much political clout to allow any such legislation that might eat into profits.
“Does the utility company want power stations on the top of everyone’s homes?” said Jim Spann, chief operating officer for Russell & Sun Solar in Malabar. “The utility companies are partners in this, but, like any partnership, there are disputes.”
Buck Martinez, FPL’s senior director of project development, said the utility agrees that the state needs to increase renewable energy but questioned whether small suppliers could do it cheaper and as reliably.
“The only way you’re truly going to get an industry in Florida is to build something of scale,” Martinez said.
While FPL follows strict regulations in the solar plants it builds, there’s no mechanism in place to regulate smaller suppliers, which leaves room for abuse.
“There are a lot of these little groups out there. They’re installers and roofers. We applaud that. But the reality is they are not energy experts,” he said. “A lot of these folks put something up and they leave, and it’s buyer beware.”
The renewable energy alliance plans next week to announce proposed legislation to boost incentives for smaller suppliers of solar power. A bill proposed last year would have passed the costs of renewable energy projects to customers, capping what utilities can recover from those projects at 2 percent of their annual revenue. The coalition wants a similar bill in which some portion of that money would be available through auction to smaller renewable energy developers, not just large utilities.
They are campaigning on a 10-city tour this month in Florida, including a stop on the Space Coast on Saturday, to show off solar-powered homes and businesses, to raise awareness about clean energy and hold panel discussions about pending energy legislation.
Inconsistent
A 2008 law enabled FPL to pass along the cost to customers of creating 110 megawatts of renewable energy, including a 10-megawatt solar plant at Kennedy Space Center that began operation last year.
But thousands who took a chance on Florida’s popular solar rebate program learned last month they’d only get a portion of their solar rebates.
The state stopped paying the rebates last year, with a backlog of almost 11,000 Floridians.
Gov. Rick Scott added more uncertainty to the program this week when he proposed slashing all 14 positions at the office that administers the rebates, the Florida Energy and Climate Commission, and zeroing out its $46 million budget. It’s unclear whether the commission’s responsibilities might be shifted to another department.
Napoli forked out the $44,000 for his solar system in July 2009 as a hedge against volatile energy spikes, with hopes of a $30,000 rebate from the state.
He learned he’d get about $22,000, or roughly 72 percent of the approved rebate.
That pushed his break-even point on the system out about seven years, he said.
“We thought it would be about two years to break even,” Napoli said.
“I don’t think I would have done it,” Napoli said. “There was a risk. Everybody always said there was a risk, but what everybody said is that they always have paid it to the full amount.”
Spann said the popularity of the solar rebate program proves the interest is there.
“It substantiated that people want to do this. If you bring us the right incentives, we’ll do the other part,” he said.
By Jim Waymer – Contact: jwaymer@floridatoday.com.
This article was originally published here.
Florida Energy Facts
- $16 billion — What Florida sends out of state annually for fuel costs to run aging power plants. The state imports all of the fossil fuels it uses for electricity, from countries such as Venezuela, Indonesia, and Colombia.
- Under a “business as usual” scenario, Florida electricity rates will go up 4.7% annually.
- If Florida developed 1,500 megawatts of solar power, up to 45,000 direct jobs and 50,000 indirect jobs would be created.
Source: Florida Solar Energy Center
Great Resource Links:
Solar rebate program
Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy
Facebook: Florida Conservation Alliance Institute
Distributed Energy Coalition