Florida utilities work to stop rooftop solar

Utility companies in Florida have used their political sway to keep laws on the books that hurt the rooftop solar industry, the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting said.

Companies like Duke Energy, Gulf Power, Florida Power & Light and Tampa Electric have used lobbying and campaign donations to stop bills that would allow companies to install solar panels at no cost to homeowners and to give homeowners tax breaks, the center said in a report published in the Miami Herald.

{mosads}The legislation has received bipartisan support from free-market lawmakers, clean energy advocates, Christian groups and others.

But the energy that solar panels produce threatens the business of utilities, and they have ensured that the bills go nowhere in Republican-controlled Capitol in recent years, the center said.

“You know how Tallahassee has an in-group and an out-group?” Paige Kreegel (R), a former state representative who chaired the energy committee, told the center. “I didn’t know I was on the outside until I went against the public utilities, and then — holy hell.”

Utilities have spent $12 million on campaigns since 2010 in Florida, and solar power proponents say that has helped them wield influence against rooftop solar.

State Rep. Dwight Dudley (R) said the failure of pro-solar legislation can be traced back to the donations.

“We in Florida are stuck in the stone age. This is probably the most Byzantine energy legislation in the country,” he told the center.

The companies declined to answer specific questions from the center but defended their lobbying efforts.