Florida PSC Action Smart Move for Consumers
Reliability Something to Be Thankful For
November 27, 2014PACE Joins Comment on EPA Carbon Rule
December 3, 2014
This past Tuesday, the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) acted on a staff recommendation to scale back energy efficiency programs over the next five years and to end utility rebates for residential solar power by the end of 2015. The PSC vote was 3-2 in favor of the staff’s recommendations, which found that both the customer-funded energy efficiency programs and the solar rebate programs were not cost-effective.
According to media reports, for example, Duke Energy and Florida Power & Light, two utilities that provide about two-thirds of the state’s electricity, spent nearly $18 million to serve about a thousand solar customers. On average, those customers receiving the solar rebate earned more than $100,000 and had a 3,100-square-foot home.
In reaction to the decision, PACE offers the following statement:
“In its decision on Tuesday, the Florida Public Service Commission took an important step toward ensuring that Florida’s energy future is fair and sustainable. Energy efficiency is a useful instrument for helping meet power demand, but customers shouldn’t be asked to fund programs that are not cost-effective. If the Sierra Club and others had their way, for example, customers would have paid about $10 per month for energy efficiency programs. Some customers might support that, but such a program is not fair to the customer base at large and ultimately not a wise use of their dollars.
Similarly, while solar power will be an important part of Florida’s future, the program in place was neither fair nor sustainable. Only a select group of customers took advantage of the program, while all other ratepayers paid the price. Asking everyone in a neighborhood to pay more so that one neighbor can install solar panels and save money is not a model that can work for the long term. The Commission wisely agreed and hopefully will find other, more equitable ways of supporting the future of solar power in Florida.”
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