Florida State Wide Net-Metering Initiative

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Comment by Joe Jenkins on December 9, 2008 at 4:03pm

What is a feed-in-tariff? Is it accounting cost or externality cost based? Anybody?

Comment by Roy R on December 9, 2008 at 4:20am

My name is Roy Ratner, and I represent Atlas Solar Innovations and the Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy - (FARE).
Atlas Solar Innovations is a subsidiary of All Atlas Roofing of South Florida. We are distributors, designers and installers of Photovoltaic (PV), Domestic Hot Water (DHW), and Solar pool heating Systems for both residential and commercial properties. We cofounded the Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy - (FARE) for the promotion of renewable energy policies that will permit every individual, business and organization in the state of Florida the opportunity to become independent producers and sellers of all forms of renewable energy. We are very committed to be a part of this movement toward a healthy environment, future energy independence, and economic prosperity for the state of Florida.
Our Association endorses and promotes the adoption of the renewable energy policy that is proven to be the most successful and efficient renewable energy policy in the world. This policy mechanism is responsible for 50% of the world's renewable energy deployment in the past few years. Currently 45 countries worldwide utilize this simple, transparent policy. By adopting this policy, Floridians will be able to deliver renewable energy more rapidly and for less cost by including the participation of everyone; homeowners, business owners, churches, schools, farmers and others. Currently Hawaii, Oregon, California, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Rhode Island and the city of Gainesville Florida are in the process of adopting this policy mechanism.
Germany, the first European country to implement this policy, is a great example of this renewable energy deployment success.
As a direct result of this policy, renewable energy accounts for 14% of Germany's energy supply as of 2007.They are targeting 27% by 2020, and 45% by 2030. They have 70,000 employed in the wind industry, 50,000 employed in the PV industry, 8,000 employed in the biogas industry. With a total of 250,000 people employed in the renewable energy industry. Germany’s policy success produces a $30 billion turnover and a net benefit of $9 billion annually. This simple policy levels the playing field for all producers and sellers of renewable energy.
It is imperative that we participate in the environmental and economic gift that renewable energy gives us.
We have the opportunity to create a widespread home-grown industry, the chance to spare the environment further damage, create thousands of local jobs, collect millions in local revenue, and establish Floridian generated energy independence.

Do not let Florida miss this renewable energy boom, bring it home, and bring it to Florida
At The Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy we firmly endorse the policy of Renewable Energy Payments (REP’s) also known as Feed- in Tariffs (FIT’s) to be the single most effective way to achieve widespread rapid deployment of renewable energy in Florida.
Please join us and help others to understand the necessity of this policy adoption for the future of state of Florida @ www.farenergy.org.

Thank you,
Roy Ratner
Atlas Solar Innovations 1-877-299 –Solar
www.Atlas -solar.com
rr @Atlas -solar.com

Comment by Leslie G. on December 7, 2008 at 6:13am

This gentleman wrote an Editorial article about Solar Power in my local newspaper and I have been corresponding with him about the Pickens Plan. I am posting this for any Solar Group who would like to get in touch with Mr. Eckhart to publish a column in the Treasure Coast Newspaper.
Mrs. Grenstein,
Thank you again and if there is anything I can do to help, let me know. We need to combine all the environmental and industry groups together. A main block that shows we carry votes. This pressure should be applied to the governor, legislators and the psc. If they don't want to play ball, then we need to get rid of them for the good of the state and environment. Mr. Crist ran on the promise of "green jobs", well he better do as he says. Also, if you or anyone else wants to publish a column of 600 words or less, I can get run in the Treasure Coast Newspaper, which is part of Scripps. The editor is going through the rebate process and wrote a whole page in the editorial section of the paper on 11/17/08, asking the question why isn't this program properly funded. He called out the solar industry, the governor and legislators. Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Rand Eckhart
President
Energy Structures & Systems, Inc.
P 772-419-6055
f 772-419-6054
c 561-248-9022

www.esssolar.com

Comment by Michael, Houston on November 1, 2008 at 7:50am

JOBS UPDATE
Thousands of new GREEN JOBS are now posted on GREEN JOBS NOW! group page. Join the group today and we will keep you informed. http://push.pickensplan.com/group/greenjobsnowcom
Tell your friends looking for a job to sign up on the PickensPlan and upload their resume FREE at: www.green-jobs-now.com
Melissa
coordinator@green-jobs-now.com

Comment by Andy Collazo on September 25, 2008 at 8:07pm

Folks, I’m so excited to announce Pickens U is finally here! Please feel free to contact me for details.

Pickens U is a new Pickens site specifically designed for students and alumni from colleges and universities across the United States who support energy independence for America.

Outreach on college campuses will be a critical component of our effort to build an Army of 1,000,000 supporters. We plan to mobilize students and alumni of colleges across America to support the Pickens Plan and prepare to take action during the first 100 days of the new Administration.

There are hundreds of college campuses across America, and we are interested in having Pickens Plan chapters on as many of them as possible – from small community colleges to liberal arts schools to prominent institutions to the largest state universities. The key is to find a motivated campus coordinator and an enthusiastic student population – with the right people in place, even the smallest of schools can make a big difference.

http://push.pickensplan.com/collegeMain.php

And best of all, we are in need of Campus Coordinators. This is an exceptional opportunity for a student or alumni to represent their College or University in a leadership role within Pickens Plan New Energy Army.

As a Campus Coordinator you will be responsible for the following:

o Be the public point of contact for their chapter of the Pickens Plan
o Recruit as many students as possible to be supporters of the Pickens Plan, with a particular focus on getting students to join our social networks on Facebook and/or Push.PickensPlan.com
o Host 1-2 events on campus between now and Inauguration Day to raise awareness for the Pickens Plan and recruit supporters
o Assist the New Energy Army regional leader with maintaining chapter webpages on Facebook and Push.PickensPlan.com
o Organize calls to action when we need Pickens Plan supporters from their chapter to contact their elected officials or take other action

The Pickens Plan is a bridge to the future — a blueprint to reduce foreign oil dependence by harnessing domestic energy alternatives, and buying us time to develop even greater new technologies.

Building new wind generation facilities and better utilizing our natural gas resources can replace more than one-third of our foreign oil imports in 10 years. But it will take leadership.

On January 20th, 2009, a new President will take office.

We're organizing behind the Pickens Plan now to ensure our voices will be heard by the next administration.

Together we can raise a call for change and set a new course for America's energy future in the first hundred days of the new presidency — breaking the hammerlock of foreign oil and building a new domestic energy future for America with a focus on sustainability.

You can start changing America's future today by supporting the Pickens Plan. Visit our website at www.pickensplan.com to join us. Email me directly for more exciting news.

Comment by Roy R on September 1, 2008 at 6:29pm

FARE Files Florida PSC Comments Calling for Feed-in Tariffs
August 29, 2008



Tradable credits are the renewable equivalent of the Alaskan bridge to nowhere says filing.
The Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy (FARE) filed comments with the Public Service Commission (PSC) on August 26, 2008 suggesting that the state move towards a system of feed-in tariffs rather than going down its present path.

The Alliance is a coalition of leading Florida solar companies and the Alliance for Renewable Energy, a group formed to promote Renewable Energy Payments (feed-in tariffs) in North America.

FARE's filing was in response to a PSC docket on the state's proposed Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) using a system of Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) as the development mechanism. While many RPS policies do not use tradable credits as the sole implementing mechanism, some do.

Prepared by Florida investment banker John Burges, the filing argued that the proposed REC program "will benefit a few large companies at the expense of many small and mid-sized" firms and do little to advance the Governor's renewable economic and industrial development objectives. Burges contrasted the success of Germany's feed-in tariffs in creating 250,000 jobs with the PSC's timid proposal.

The filing goes on to suggest that a REC trading system will not achieve the goals set out by the Governor nor will it allow equitable opportunity to all in developing the state's renewable resources. RECs are also a poor value to ratepayers in comparison to Renewable Energy Payments, Burges argued in the filing, citing several independent studies that reached that conclusion.

The proposed RECs trading market, "as currently drafted in the PSC rule are a more expensive policy and [will be] less successful in generating investments in renewables--they are the renewable equivalent of the Alaskan bridge to nowhere."

Internationally, feed-in tariffs have become the mechanism of choice for increasing the uptake of solar, wind, biomass and other forms of renewable energy, FARE said.

The Alliance urged the PSC to replace the proposed credit trading system with a system of feed-in tariffs. It argued that the RECs trading system does not work well for renewables such as solar and biomass, that predominate in Florida.

The draft PSC rule has taken heavy criticism from other groups. Leading newspapers and NGOs have been especially critical of the draft PSC rule. The St Petersburg Times said the Public Service Commission's targets for renewable energy [are] far below [Governor] Crist's while the Miami Herald stated that the Public Service Commission is recommending an extremely slow buildup in the use of renewable energy.

The (PSC) targets aren't ambitious enough to drive any kind of investment in renewable energy technology in Florida," said George Cavros of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy in a letter to the Miami Herald. The targets were "the weakest in the nation. Dead last," he added. "Governor Crist would be 94 before his proposed 20 percent target is realized."

"We were just flabbergasted by the one percent cost cap," said Sean Stafford, who represents Florida Crystals, the sugar producer that operates the state's largest renewable energy plant, in reference to another clause that would cap all renewable costs at one percent of utility revenues.

Environmental Defense Fund was also highly critical. Gerald Karnas, EDF's Florida Director, has called for the introduction of feed-in tariffs as the best way to achieve the Governors renewable objectives.


FARE PSC Filing 07738-08.pdf
Public Service Commission's targets for renewable energy far below Crist's (St. Petersburg Times)
Renewable-energy plan for Florida on agenda (Miami Herald)

-End-



Paul Gipe
Tehachapi CA 93561-1741 USA
661 325 9590, 661 472 1657 mobile
pgipe@igc.org, www.wind-works.org

Comment by Getulio Bastos on August 28, 2008 at 1:36pm

Gentlemen,

This is a letter I just sent to Congressman Ron Klein of West Palm Beach and Florida Senator Bill Nelson. I suggest that all of our members do something similar to provoke some reaction from our politicians.

Mr. Bill Nelson,

Florida is one of the worst hit states in the Real Estate crisis. Our tourism industry is being hit tremendously by the gasoline price hikes. And our state is one of the least served with alternative forms of energy. But we can do something about it and one of the things we can do is to facilitate the creation of an infrastructure to sell, install conversion kits in our cars and distribute natural gas within our region.

There are entrepreneurs interested in creating this infrastructure, but the major obstacle is EPA, which has no scientific reason to keep their antique regulations for the conversion of our cars to use natural gas in our roads. There are no technology barriers at all.

It would save our taxpayers a lot of money in the near future while providing for a new source of employment for thousands of Floridians in a brand new industry. In training of new mechanics, installation of conversion kits, installation of natural gas filling stations, distribution of natural gas across the state and maintenance of it all.

There’s a Bill going through Congress now, entitled “THE DRIVE AMERICA ON NATURAL GAS ACT OF 2008” introduced by Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma.

If you need to research more about it, please visit www.push.pickensplan.com. Please, click here if you want to see the reactions to my discussion Brazil is 100% oil independent. Why aren't we?.

While there you can also see several pictures and videos related to the usage of natural gas as a vehicle propulsion energy both in Brazil and the US.

As a citizen I urge you to support this Bill to pass and provide easier means for our people to expend less on their cars while creating a new industry for the state of Florida.

Your voter,

Getulio Bastos

Click here to send your message to Senator Bill Nelson
Click here to send your message to Congressman Ron Klein

...

Comment by Roy R on August 25, 2008 at 6:48am

Solar Monopolies in Florida! The REC Wrecking Ball – Coming to a State Near You


Florida’s electric utility system is a regulated monopoly. Now, with passage of the Florida Energy Bill this week, legislators in Tallahassee have set a course, that unless rectified, will most probably extend similar monopolies into the fastest growing energy markets – renewables and solar, and in doing so decimate the existing Florida solar industry in favor of larger Wall Street backed multinationals. It seems inconceivable that once policymakers and legislators fully comprehend the implications of the direction that they are heading in, that any true Floridian will actually support this – but stranger things have happened. Now is the time to speak out.

Buried in the Florida House and Senate Energy bill is language that would allow the state electricity Regulator, the Public Service Commission, to introduce policies known as renewable energy credits (or RECs) as a way to stimulate solar and other renewable energy electricity production. RECs are basically bought by utilities from renewable producers and certify that the utilities have acquired a unit of renewable energy, and as such can be used as a mechanism to force utilities to meet certain renewable targets. The problem is that there is growing evidence from other states that have introduced RECs, that these policies are radioactive. Maryland, introduced RECs earlier this year. Even before the policy was signed by the Governor, the largest utility announced it had signed a multi-year transaction to buy solar RECs from SunEdison, a major international solar company. That deal gave the 2 companies a 30% share of the market for 2008 and 60% for 2009 – a quasi monopoly. This crowds out the existing local solar industry since it leaves them with only 40% of the market to participate in. Job losses will follow.

New Jersey has an ill thought out solar RECs policy as well. Smaller residential solar companies are in decline and shedding people. Says Lyle Rawlings, CEO of a large NJ solar integrator “the market is in collapse right now, with projects being canceled and many of the solar businesses that grew under the rebate program now hanging on by their fingernails. The REC market literally is not working, except for a handful of companies who have been able to get long-term REC contracts - we know that the market concentration is very unhealthy, and we think it’s an improper way to deliver a solar incentive program”. Furthermore NJ will be missing its RPS target primarily because of these issues. So based on recent market evidence RECs are a wrecking ball for local renewable companies.

The problem stems from the fact that utilities retain the power to decide who they buy RECs from, and utilities quite naturally won’t want the hassle of buying small quantities of RECs bilaterally from household solar systems or small commercial providers – they would much prefer to deal with one or 2 large aggregators of the RECs doing the largest commercial renewable projects, so they arrange bilateral deals direct with them. Whats wrong with this?

Since the utilities prefer to buy in bulk they will pay more for these aggregated RECs – typically up to 80-90c in the $, whereas for residential or small commercial RECs the value is 50c or less (this is the figure the State of Maryland has proposed should they become the default residential aggregator). Consequently while the RECs incentive covers 70% or so of the build out cost of the larger commercial projects, thus providing a massive contribution to the companies least in need of it, they only provide 30% of the cost of the small systems that are the life blood to the local solar integrators. This leads to a curtain call for the local industry all done with rate payer and tax payer money that has effectively been laundered to the benefit of the larger commercial REC suppliers. And funnily enough who is supplying the policy language for the legislatures and PUCs? The answer is the very same solar companies that will benefit from them!

There are already strong indications in Florida that these same out of state large solar companies are lining up multi year contracts with Florida utilities in excess of 100MW that could sop up a majority of the RECs that would become available to the solar industry – leaving next to nothing for the local solar integrators to compete for.

As Ted Middleton, Managing Member of a Maryland solar company explained, “The ratepayer base thus foots the highest bill possible to fund Wal-Mart installations, and the little guys (houses) get a much lower cash benefit relative to each REC produced because they have little market leverage with remaining REC purchasers”

Florida legislators have just voted to approve renewable policies such as these – thankfully the energy bill both requires the PSC in Florida to fine tune these policies and then seek reaffirmation from the legislature in 2009. Maybe in the intervening months, the Governor’s office and Florida policy makers including the PSC should ask smaller NJ and Maryland solar companies as well as the Florida SEIA companies if they think these REC policies are working. They will likely hear a resounding NO!

“Unfortunately, the language that passed through the legislatures favors a REC based policy. Without any change, for the foreseeable future anyway, Florida could end up with renewable energy policy primarily designed for only one or two large companies, just like what has happened in Maryland and New Jersey,” comments Pete DeNapoli, FlaSEIA Director. “Sure, the state of Florida will meet the RPS goals, but the bottom line is that the Governor’s goal of creating a vibrant renewable energy industry with thousands of new, high paying jobs will not be realized,” Pete adds. “With Production Based Incentive or Feed-In Tariffs, you get it all.”

What legislators and policy makers instead need to do is look at the highly successful renewable policies that have been in place in Europe for years and resulted in both the rapid deployment of renewable electricity projects, a massive expansion in local jobs from it, all done with no taxpayer expense and minimal increases in electricity prices. Germany has 250,000 employed in renewables generating $30BN in sales. At the very least Florida policy makers and legislators should do what the utility solar association SEPA is doing, and undertake a trip to Germany to review first hand how Germany has a vibrant solar and renewable industry with ~ 4000MW of solar at the cost for ratepayers of “the price of a loaf of bread”. Both the Florida Solar Energy Industry Association (FlaSEIA), the Maryland, District of Columbia and Virginia SEIA, Environmental Defense Fund as well as several high profile manufacturers and solar integrators have publicly advocated introducing these feed in policies as the best public policy incentives for solar and renewables.

So for the sake of those desiring a vibrant renewables job market in Florida, I ask legislators and policymakers to reconsider these ill advised REC policies. Thanks to the efforts of the Governor, and his energy team, Florida has the opportunity to develop a clear energy policy that can get the state to 20% of electricity from renewable sources, create robust new industries employing thousands of people and improve the states energy security. However the state must be careful in what policy incentive mechanisms are introduced to get us there and avoid replicating ill conceived and dangerous policies that are already failing in other states. Other State SEIAs, such as in New York and Pennsylvania, need also to proactively participate in this growing debate and understand the full ramifications of what often is being foisted on them by other so called national industry mouthpieces with vested interests inconsistent with the local industry.

Comment by Alankar Gupta on July 22, 2008 at 9:50pm

Greetings Friends,
We all need to thank Mr. Pickens for explaining the energy problem that we as a nation face. Earlier it was one Group (users) pointing fingers at the other Group (suppliers) and vice versa. The problem is real. It was magnified to some extent, in recent times, by speculators. But, the truth is we are importing more oil every year and producing less. We are sending billions of dollars overseas.

I like Mr. Pickens Plan but I think it needs to be supplemented by other plans. It by itself will not get us to Energy Independence. It will just buy us more time. For this reason I have posted a petition for Energy Independence .

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/windenergycorporation


Please (a) sign the Petition and (b) forward it to your friends. United we can achieve Energy Independence and avoid this constant financial bleeding of our great nation.
Thanks.

Regards and Best wishes,

Alankar Gupta

Comment by Roy R on July 22, 2008 at 7:36pm

Florida: Hermann Scheer Receives Standing Ovation--Pushes Feed-in Tariffs at Governor Crist Climate Summit
Posted on Thu, Jun. 26, 2008
BY JOHN DORSCHNER
jdorschner@MiamiHerald.com Schwarzenegger lauds, criticizes climate efforts . . . . . .
Speaking at the closing luncheon of Crist's second summit on climate change in Miami, Schwarzenegger listed all the elements, some serious, some not, that California and Florida shared. . .
. . . With an estimated 800 persons gathered at the Hotel InterContinental in downtown Miami . . .
. . . During an international panel, the most applause was received by Hermann Scheer, a member of the German Parliament and a leading expert in solar energy. "The only real option is to change to renewable,'' Scheer told the audience. He said Germany now produces 50 percent of the world's wind power and is a leader in solar. He said countries pushing renewables need to do three things:
• Guarantee access to the grid for any producer of renewable power, no matter how small the amount of power might be.
• Make guaranteed payments to those providing renewable power.
• Don't cap the contributions of renewable power.
Scheer received a standing ovation.
The crowd of about 500, however, sat silently when Philippe Vinogradoff, the consul general of France in Miami, said his nation needed to retain ''the nuclear option,'' because nuclear was a key source of power in France.
-End-
Foreigners give Crist energy reform ideas
By Zac Anderson
Published Friday, June 27, 2008
. . . "This governor is putting everything on the table and showing a lot of courage," said Jerry Karnas, with the group Environmental Defense.
Among the foreign representatives on the panel were consuls general from Spain and Germany, two of the global leaders on solar energy. Both countries require utilities to buy solar-generated electricity from individual producers at above-market prices, which led to an explosion in solar panel production and small-scale, distributed power generation.
"New players we need, not waiting for the energy companies," said Hermann Scheer, an expert on solar energy. "New players without vested interests in the old energy fields."
Crist kept smiling during Scheer's speech, but in the audience, representatives of big utility companies, which have given the governor extensive campaign contributions and helped sponsor the summit, might have been nervous. . .
-End-
June 27, 2008
- David Adams
Highlights of the Miami Climate Change Summit #2 from solar to PHEVs.
. . . the biggest applause went to Hermann Scheer, a member of the German parliament and longtime solar energy advocate. He began with a clever good news/bad news routine. "The bad news is oil is running out," he said. "The good news is oil is running out," he added. The only option was to switch to renewables, he went on, pointing out that the sun produces 15,000 times the world's current daily energy needs. Despite its cloudy climate, Germany was leading the way in solar power, he said, with 4,000 MW of installed photo-voltaic panels. It also produced 50% of the world's wind power.
Scheer said the key to renewables was to guarantee access to the electric grid for all renewable energy producers and not to allow it to be blocked by conventional power companies. . .
-End-

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