Floridians should be able to choose solar freely

As a free market conservative, I read with interest Marita Noon’s opinion piece in the March 31 Democrat. Ms. Noon, a lobbyist and fossil fuel promoter, is the executive director for Energy Makes America Great, Inc and Citizens’ Alliance for Responsible Energy (CARE).

She outlined concerns about solar power, using an example of fraud affecting a few hundred solar panel purchasers out of the “half a million homes and businesses in the U.S. with solar installation.” One could draw the conclusion, after reading her opinion, this was reason enough to discount the solar industry as a whole.

In the opinion piece, words like “hazards” and “exploits” were used when speaking of solar. The dismal and sometimes scandalous history of solar power in Florida stems not from solar companies, but from the big electric power companies.

Floridians need the freedom to choose solar without interference from government or from monopolies. If solar energy is not a viable option, it will fail on its own merits. While there are 9 million electric customers in the state, only 6,000 have solar power systems. Florida’s electric utility monopolies, with the cooperation of state regulators and legislators, have held this technology at bay for too long. One way to solve this is the ballot initiative by Floridians for Solar Choice.

The initiative will make it legal for homeowners and businesses to buy their electricity from solar finance companies through contracts called Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). Under a solar PPA, a solar finance company buys, installs and maintains a solar power system on a homeowner’s or business’ property. The homeowner then buys the electricity generated by the system through a long-term contract with the solar finance company, paying only for the electricity the system generates.

Because the solar company only makes money if the system works, there’s little chance of having defective solar panels installed on your roof. The ability to choose solar power will benefit Floridians in numerous ways, to include reducing the need to build expensive new peaking power plants, for which all ratepayers pay, to lowering electricity bills by allowing consumers to lock in lower rates for the long-term through third-party financing.

It is important for individuals and businesses to have the opportunity to install their own rooftop systems. Floridians from across the political spectrum already know this. In a recent poll, 74 percent of Florida voters said they would support a proposal to change the law and allow Floridians to contract directly with solar companies to power their homes or businesses with solar energy.

Misinformation simply doesn’t hold up to the light. This is a simple free market issue with an even more simple solution: Support the Floridians for Solar Choice ballot initiative.

Catherine Baer is chair of the all-volunteer TeaParty Network. She also is co-chair of Coalition for Ethics Reform, a non-partisan group that fought for ethics reform in Tallahassee.