Environmental groups are mad as hell about Amendment 1 — and have been for more than a year.
Instead of fighting for a modern approach to renewable energy (i.e. breaking down the barriers to solar power), they've had to fend off a power company-fueled effort to freeze the state's energy policy in time by tricking voters into voting for Amendment 1.
Ostensibly a "pro-solar" amendment, what it does is reinforce rules already on the books that block homeowners and businesses from selling power they generate on their property via solar panels to anyone other than their electric utility.
That means utility companies like Duke Energy — which already essentially have local monopolies already — control the pricing and terms for which solar power is generated and consumed. So much for the free market.
Despite it being an obvious ruse, it's been doing quite well in the polls, thanks in part to a slick ad campaign paid for by millions in contributions from big power companies and the fossil fuel industry, which is petrified of the idea of Florida's abundant sunshine chipping away at their bottom line.
Amendment backers are even admitting Amendment 1 is a scam.
On Tuesday, Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau Chief Mary Ellen Klas wrote about an audio recording the paper obtained in which Sal Nuzzo, vice president of the James Madison Institute, a power utility think tank, baldly admitted Amendment 1 is a trick.
He called the measure “an incredibly savvy maneuver” that “would completely negate anything they (pro-solar interests) would try to do either legislatively or constitutionally down the road,”
Hmmm. Seems like an all right dude.
He added that the effort to get it on the ballot was "political jiu-jitsu."
The think tank told the Herald on Wednesday that Nuzzo "misspoke."*
Pro-solar and pro-voter groups hope the public will catch on and shut the industry-sponsored amendment down now that supporters have been caught on tape admitting they're aiming to fool voters.
"We now have clear evidence that utilities are using an issue with strong voter support – solar – to mislead Florida voters in order to continue protecting their profits,” said Pamela Goodman of the League of Women Voters Florida, in a teleconference Wednesday. “Amendment 1 is a con job and a scam that is very dangerous for the voters and consumers of Florida.”
Stephen Smith of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy said the tape shows how arrogant and disrespectful of the electorate the industry is.
"They know what Florida citizens and voters want, more clean solar power, yet the power companies use what they arrogantly call “political jiu-jitsu” to put the shady, con Amendment 1on the ballot targeted at Sunshine State voters,” he said. “This is not a political left or right issue, this is a fundamental issue of what is right and wrong.”
Outrage over the admission was so strong that Congresswoman Kathy Castor even weighed in, calling it "a dirty trick" that will ensure Florida continues to lag in its adoption of solar power.
"Florida lags far behind other states in unleashing the potential of solar power, renewable energy and energy efficiency that would save consumers money and reduce carbon pollution. Electric utility monopolies are working to kill cost-saving solar power installed by businesses and residents," she said in a written statement. "Electric monopolies want to control solar and renewable energy generation and use, and have consistently put their corporate profits ahead of the best interests of Florida consumers."
*UPDATE: A spokeswoman for Consumers for Smart Solar, Sarah Bascom, said the institute had nothing to do with the drafting of the amendment and denied that the amendment limits solar in any way.
"[James Madison Institute] does not speak for our effort, and whatever this individual is claiming or taking credit for or claiming with in regard to Amendment 1 is simply not true," she said in an emailed statement.
This article appears in Oct 20-27, 2016.