TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Backers of a proposed constitutional amendment to expand solar energy say it may be four years before they again seek voter approval if the ballot language that goes before the Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday is rejected.
Leaders of Floridians for Solar Choice, which is seeking to allow businesses to generate and sell a small amount of solar power to customers on the same or neighboring properties, expressed confidence during a news conference in Tallahassee Monday that the state's top court will support oral arguments in favor of their ballot proposal.
Stephen Smith is the executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
He said his group has been thorough in their efforts to get the amendment before voters.
"When we win, we do not want the Legislature or other entities to hijack the will of the voters. It is a very precise legal needle to thread, but we're confident that we'll be able to get through it," Smith said.
Meanwhile, Consumers for Smart Solar, a group backed by power companies and whose leadership includes Matthew Carter, a former chairman of the Florida Public Service Commission, is proposing a different ballot initiative that would allow Floridians with solar equipment on their property to sell energy to power companies.
Carter said he wants 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.
"It should be done from a standpoint to where you don't pick winners and losers. You don't have businesses benefiting at the expense of consumers. You don't have wealthy consumers benefiting at the expense of poor consumers," Carter said.
The court will have to decide if the Floridians for Solar Choice ballot language is limited to a single subject, and the wording is unambiguous and no more than 75 words.
The amendment, in part, would allow businesses to generate and sell up to two megawatts of power to customers on the same or neighboring properties.
Two megawatts have been estimated as providing the daily needs of a typical Wal-Mart or residential communities between 225 and 714 homes.