Bill seeking to curb rooftop solar incentive moves forward with bipartisan support

A bill that seeks to curb a major incentive for private rooftop solar received its first nod of approval on the first day of the legislative session.

The legislation, sponsored by Republican state Sen. Jennifer Bradley of Orange Park, would require the Florida Public Service Commission — which recently approved a base rate increase for Florida Power & Light — to rewrite net metering rules that have allowed rooftop solar customers to sell excess energy they generate back to the utility company at a retail rate.

FPL solar customers are required to connect to the electric grid and buy electricity if their renewable energy systems do not generate enough, which is measured by a meter. But any excess energy generated, meaning the customer buys less energy from the utility, is sold back to FPL through that same meter and comes back to the customer as a credit on their bill.

The bill would also allow those who own or lease rooftop solar before Jan. 1, 2023 to be grandfathered into current net metering rates for a 10-year period.

The purpose of the bill is to “ensure that net metering customers pay the full cost of service and are not subsidized and thereby increasing the bills of remaining ratepayers,” Bradley told the Senate Committee on Regulated Industries on Tuesday.

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Yet FPL, the country’s largest energy company, wrote the bill that Bradley sponsored, according to a report by the Miami Herald and environmental news nonprofit Floodlight. Bradley’s political committee received a $10,000 contribution from FPL’s parent company, NextEra Energy, the outlets reported.

The Juno Beach-based utility believes net metering rules "should be modernized, not eliminated," spokesperson Chris McGrath said. FPL said its recent rate increases would help support its efforts for larger solar projects.

"We believe our customers and our state benefit the most when the largest amount of solar is installed at the lowest cost. Large-scale, universal solar is the fastest, most cost-effective way for us to bring more solar to Florida, while keeping bills low for customers over the long term," McGrath said.

Proponents of the bill say that solar customers aren’t paying their fair share of maintaining the electric grid due to net metering, reminiscent of a failed utility-backed constitutional amendment in 2016 that sought to “ensure that consumers who do not choose to install solar are not required to subsidize the costs of backup power and electric grid access to those who do.”

Florida’s net metering rules were first introduced in 2008 and haven’t changed since. At the time, the state had just 577 net-metering customers. At of the end of 2020, there were 91,522, and all but 34 were solar.

“The conditions which existed when full retail net metering was created don’t exist today,” Bradley said. You force the remaining ratepayers to pick up the rooftop solar customers’ share of grid infrastructure costs.”

Bradley also argued that the current net metering rule "disadvantages low-income consumers,” who “are not in the financial position, in most cases, to put a solar system on their house that can cost upwards of $50,000.”

According to the Senate analysis of the bill, 33% of FPL net-metering customers are households that make less than $50,000 a year, and 66% of the net-metering households make less than $100,000 annually.

Bill opponents say that the bill would destroy the gains made in private rooftop solar and be detrimental to the thousands of jobs the industry provides.

“It took us about 15 years to get to that point,” said Katie Chiles Ottenweller, southeast director for Vote Solar, a nonprofit that advocates for accessibility to solar. “(Solar customers) pay grid connection fees. They pay minimum bills. They pay basic customer charges, and they’re investing their own money in these rooftop solar systems and deserve fair treatment from their government.”

Chiles Ottenweller noted that as FPL requested rate increases last year, the reason for higher costs was rising fuel prices and stronger storms, not because of net metering.

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“This bill will only make it harder for consumers to insulate themselves from those higher costs, or to install solar and storage systems that allow them to keep the lights on when storms do come,” she said.

Lisa Edgar, who sat on the Public Service Commission when net metering rules were written, supported changes to the state’s rules.

“I’m proud of this product, but the product is a product of its time,” she said.

Edgar said the rule did its job to incentivize rooftop solar but is now 'regressive."

The bill’s Senate analysis acknowledges that there “may be an indeterminate impact on solar installation and manufacturing industry if fewer customers purchase rooftop solar as a result of the redesigned net metering rate structure” and that “decreasing the credit amount from the retail rate to the full avoided cost may impact a customer’s decision to install a renewable generation system.”

Several solar contractors spoke out against the bill, including Bill Johnson, president of Sarasota-based Brilliant Harvest. Johnson shared first-hand experience of the impact of when a utility, in this case Peace River Co-Op in Manatee County, stopped its net metering program.

"I can assure you that since then, we have installed no new solar electric systems in that territory," he told lawmakers.

The broader changes to net metering proposed by this bill would force him to lay off his employees, since fewer customers would be incentivized to own or lease solar systems.

“If we were to end net metering, we would go back to a situation where there would be about 600 installations statewide,” Johnson said.

Local governments that have steered toward renewable energy could also feel the effects.

“Under the current net metering program, Broward County has invested millions in rooftop solar for our convention center and Port everglades, and we’re concerned that these future investment opportunities will be lost should the current version of the bill pass,” Broward County Mayor Michael Udine told lawmakers

After an hour-and-a-half committee hearing on the bill alone, with the majority of public testimony speaking against the bill, it received six votes in support, including one Democrat.

“I’m persuaded by arguments on both sides today,” said state Sen. Darryl Rouson, a Democrat from St. Petersburg, who acknowledged the immense opposition. “But if there’s no change, if there’s no reaching out to the groups that have opposed this and suggested ideas, then I will probably vote no when it reaches the floor.”

Republican state Sen. Ed Hooper of Palm Harbor agreed that changes needed to be made.

“Like many good bills in this process, and even like many not-so good bills in this process, they start at something and when you see them toward the end of the process, they look different, hopefully for the better and not the worst,” Hooper said. “I hope this bill looks different.”

The other two Democrats on the committee, Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book of Plantation and Linda Stewart of Orlando, voted it down.

Ahead of the committee hearing, Tampa Congresswoman Kathy Castor wrote a letter asking state House and Senate leadership to vote against the bill, expressing concern that the legislation would lead to greater dependence on fossil fuels, limit access to renewable energy and hamper the economy.

“We are the ‘Sunshine State’ and should harness low-cost solar energy to benefit Floridians!” she wrote.

Hannah Morse is a reporter covering Palm Beach County. She can be reached at hmorse@pbpost.com or 561-820-4833. Follow her on Twitter at @mannahhorse.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Bill written by FPL that impacts rooftop solar in Florida moves forward