JOIN VOTE SOLAR

Florida

Florida represents the biggest opportunity for a new world class solar program we've seen yet. The campaign is white-hot; here's how to get involved:

  • To sign the petition for the Governor, click here.
  • For details on the Florida Solar Initiative plan, click here. (PDF)
  • To learn about the benefits of distributed solar energy in Florida, click here. (PDF)
The Backstory

Over the summer, Florida Governor Crist signed an Executive Order (EO 127) calling for increased investment in renewable energy in the state.

Unfortunately, this marks the beginning, not the end of the effort to see a real transition to renewable energy. He’s facing intense pressure to water down his efforts by letting ‘clean coal’ count as renewable and making the targets voluntary.  House Speaker Marco Rubio wrote a Miami Herald op-ed harshly critical of the plan.  And organizations like Freedom Works, headed by Dick Armey, have announced a multi-media campaign to fight the Governor’s efforts.

So, it's clear that a real investment in renewable energy is not going to just happen on its own. When it comes to renewable energy in Florida, solar is by far the best resource.  Working with local advocates and other solar experts and building on real-world experience from other states, we’ve developed a program--called the Florida Solar Initiative--that will result in a world-class solar market in Florida.  We’re talking 2% solar photovoltaic and 2% solar thermal—totaling over 10 GW of clean solar energy, replacing the equivalent of 20 average coal-fired power plants. And all for less than 1% increase on utility bills.

Now comes the hard part: getting this plan adopted.

On October 25, Gwen Rose of Vote Solar and Claudine Schneider of the Solar Alliance met with Governor Crist, explained the details of the Florida Solar Initiative, and delivered a petion of support signed by over 10,000 Floridians. The Governor was supportive.

The next step will be to implement the initiative through the Florida Public Service Commission. At the same time, as interest in solar heats up, the Legislature will consider some solar bills this session, and we need to make sure that they are as educated as possible about solar's potential, the correct policy options, and the strength of public support. In short, that they know all about the Florida Solar Roofs Initiative.

Going forward, we will be spending a lot of time in regulatory proceedings, implementing the particulars through the Florida Public Service Commission.

And we also plan to back up our efforts with a major media campaign. To help with this campaign, click here.

For more background on Florida, click here.

last modified 2/7/08