Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has vetoed House Bill 741, which would have phased down the value of net metering and opened the door for utilities to add fixed charges to solar customer bills.
VETO letter from DeSantis on FPL's anti-solar bill: pic.twitter.com/aJvsHzm78L
— alissajean 🐊 (@alissajean) April 27, 2022
When the bill initially passed on March 8, it did so by a combined vote of 83-31, with five abstaining in the House, and 24-15 in the Senate, garnering 68% of the total vote. In vetoing the bill, DeSantis sends it back to the House, where it will be available for consideration until the end of the current session. In Florida, it takes two-thirds of the members voting in each house to override a veto.
Since its introduction and through the bill’s passage in the state legislature, it received significant backlash with Will Giese, southeast regional director of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) calling it ” A nightmare for anyone who believes in energy freedom and the rights of people to choose the energy that works for them and their families.” A recent Sachs Media poll found that 86% of the 722 polled Florida voters, regardless of political affiliation or age, said they wanted Governor DeSantis to veto the bill, including 82% of Republicans and 90% of Democrats.
THANK YOU @GovRonDeSantis for the VETO of HB 741—the Net Metering Bill that would’ve DESTROYED Florida’s solar industry
I’m PROUD to be 1 of only 3 Republicans in the entire FL Legislature to VOTE NO on this bad Bill
I will NEVER support corrupt special interest legislation!
— Anthony Sabatini (@AnthonySabatini) April 27, 2022
Had the bill been signed by Gov. DeSantis, starting in 2023, payments to solar customers would have regress from a retail rate to the “avoided cost” to the utility, a minute fraction of the retail rate. The phase out was set to slash payment rates to solar customers by 50% in four years and would drop further still to the avoided cost rate by 2029. The bill would have also allowed for fixed charges to grid connected solar customers starting in 2026, with no limit on the fixed charges outlined in the bill text.
The bill was founded on “cost shift” rhetoric, claiming that those using their own energy are raising the cost of service to those who don’t, usually in an economically disproportionate fashion. However, only about 90,000 of the 8.5 million electric customers in Florida are topped with solar. The utility argues that this some 1% of Floridians are creating significant costs for the other 99%. Studies completed by Lawrence Berkeley National Lab found that 40 of the 43 states and Washington D.C. with net metering programs have a negligible cost increase attributed to solar. In his veto, DeSantis described House Bill 741 as a burden itself, one that would “contribute to the financial crunch that our citizens are experiencing.”
In a statement, SEIA called the veto a “major win for energy freedom and Florida’s clean energy economy.”
“Today, Governor DeSantis helped secure the livelihoods of thousands of solar workers and protected the rights of Floridians to lower their electricity bills with solar,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of SEIA. “Florida is one of the fastest-growing solar markets in the country with new businesses popping up all across the state. This veto signals that Florida’s energy economy is open for business, and that the rights of state residents should be placed ahead of monopoly utility interests.”
Katie Chiles Ottenweller, southeast regional director at Vote Solar levied similar praise to Hopper, saying:
“Thank you to Governor DeSantis for siding with job and energy freedom by vetoing this harmful legislation. I’m glad the governor recognized the devastating impacts that HB 741 would have on our economy, workforce, and energy freedom. Today, Florida lives up to its name as the Sunshine State.”
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Great news! DeSantis, governor of the Sunshine State, did the right thing.
This is great news for Florida homeowners that utilities solar panels for their solar energy freedom! Very proud of our governor Rep DeSantis for standing up for our economic well being.
I said several days ago our corrupt bought and paid for fascist governor wouldn’t have the guts to sign it.
Solar is just too popular and Defascist wants to be reelected then president so he really couldn’t.
If you think Trump was bad, DeSantis is 3x worse.
What’s going to happen next?
NEM2.0 will not continue, and version 3.0 will have to be amended.
I guess a wholesale price may work economically if the direct consumption of PV power is large enough; it can be increased to at least 50% with a battery. But the economics will work only without a fixed monthly charge.
Impact of residential net metering based on 0.6% market penetration is about 45-Cents per month on an average non-solar customer’s $150.00 bill.
Why? Only half of of a solar customer’s daily excess solar production is offset by kWh usage at night requiring generation from fuel sources. 0.6%/2 = 0.3% and $150 x 0.3% = 45-Cents/month or $5.40/yr. A Starbuck’s Latte Venti.
It only becomes a big activists’ number when multiplied by 9-million customers like a Class Action Suit where “victims” get pennies after legal eagles and politicians get a lions share of the loot.
If utilities want to pay only the wholesale rate for solar from solar homeowners, then to be fair, the utilities should pay the wholesale rate at the time of day that the home brew solar is delivered, which in most cases is during the afternoon peak, which can approach 50 cents now and even higher in the years to come as summer afternoons get hotter and hotter. Solar homeowners would gladlybpaybtgecwholesale rate at night time which is closer to one penny. Wholesale pricing would benefit solar homeowners if,IF, applied as a time of day rate in the day and night. IMHO
FPL is still stealing your kw reserves. If you don’t make enough energy to equal what you use, FPL will use your reserves to compensate. The problem is, FPL uses your reserves to get to net 0 usage. Now there is a minimum charge of $25 if you don’t use enough power. That minimum charge is equal to 240 kw used. FPL is. Ontinuing to use your reserves to get to 0 kw usage, not the 240kw that you are paying for whether you use it or not. By doing this, they are unnecessarily depleting your reserves, so when you do need the reserves, when your usage is over the minimum 240kw needed to avoid the under usage fee, there will be fewer or no kw left to apply towards your bill. Bottom line, they can take 240 kw every month from your reserves to get to net 0 usage even though it won’t reduce your bill, and then turn around and sell the kw to others.