The House’s utilities committee on Tuesday approved a bill it drafted to allow utilities to charge customers up to $1.5 billion over four years to create or buy more renewable energy.

It would cost up to $824 million for Florida Power & Light customers, working out to as much as $2.42 extra on monthly bills for customers who use 1,200 kilowatt-hours a month, according to estimates by the state’s Public Service Commission. The cost would be up to $3.32 a month for Progress Energy customers.

The committee also approved a broad bill to change how utilities are regulated. A provision that drew the most fire would move the Office of Public Counsel, the state’s advocate for utility customers, to the Attorney General’s office. Supporters say the move could streamline government since both agencies are allowed to weigh in on utility proposals, and they often team up to oppose proposed rate hikes. Opponents said it could diminish the advocate’s role and its work could get lost in all the other duties of the office.

Rep. Clay Ford, R-Gulf Breeze, chairman of the committee, said the legislation will diversify Florida’s energy supply and utility-built renewable energy plants could eventually help make alternative energy systems cheaper for homeowners and small businesses. He said allowing utilities to take the lead “gets us there quickly.”

A similar provision in a 2008 law allowed FPL to build three solar energy projects that produce 110 megawatts of energy, enough to power 35,000 homes. The projects will cost about $623 million: About $120 million will come from a federal stimulus grant and the rest from customers, though some of those costs may be defrayed by fuel savings from them.

Dozens of people opposing the concept of the bill spoke up at legislative meetings in the House and Senate in recent months. It’s a “legislative blessing” to increase rates, Jon Moyle, an attorney for the Florida Industrial Power Users Group, told the House committee recently. The group represents businesses that consume a lot of electricity such as phosphate and paper companies and grocery store chains.

Some solar energy manufacturers and installers encouraged legislators to consider leveling the playing field for them to compete at some level with utilities. They encouraged allowing other companies at their own expense to install solar systems, for instance, on the rooftops of homes and businesses and to sell the electricity directly to the customers, as is allowed in other states.

But utility executives said it won’t be cheaper because someone, the companies or utility customers, would still have to pay to help maintain the grid since they’d be using it. And they say utilities are heavily regulated in part because they have the responsibility of providing service at all hours and to all customers, unlike other energy producers.

Under the bill, utilities would be allowed to earn an extra half percent profit margin on shareholders’ investment on the renewable energy projects over the maximum allowed by the PSC. The maximum for FPL is 11 percent.

Each utility would be able to pick what type of renewable energy it produces, as long as least 20 percent is from a source other than solar. Unlike the 2008 law, the committee’s bill requires a utility to demonstrate to the PSC that the project is “the most cost-effective alternative” for the type of renewable energy source selected and that the company used “reasonable and customary” industry practices to design and build the project and hire contractors.

Several legislators said they support competition and would have supported a proposed change to the bill that would have created an auction-like system to allow renewable energy producers to compete to sell their electricity.

“There’s nothing more free market than that,” said Rep. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth. This is “one way to provide it…one way that has worked in the state of New Jersey and other place,”

But Rep. Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, withdrew his proposed change after Ford said the idea is too complicated and could slow the bill down. Ford said he’d work to add provisions to the bill to encourage competition.

The committee’s bills have not yet been assigned bill numbers. There are only two South Floridians on the committee: Reps. Clemens and George R. Moraitis, R-Fort Lauderdale.

Consumers can weigh in by contacting their legislators.

This article was originally published here.