Topic: Alternative Energy

HB 7147 and SB 1044 contain what Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam describes as "cleanup" language, including eliminating the Solar Energy System Rebate Program created in 2006. The program hasn't been funded since 2010, when some rebate applicants received only 52 percent of what they applied for. "We are moving backwards," environmentalist Susan Glickman said.

While renewable energy legislation remains stalled and a memorial supporting coal as an energy source advances, the Democratic candidate for governor said if elected he will push some of the same alternative and renewable energy policies he proposed when he was a Republican governor.

Sen. Jeff Brandes wants to place a constitutional amendment on the 2014 ballot to extend a residential tax exemption for renewable energy devices to commercial property. Rep. Ritch Workman, chairman of the House Finance & Tax Subcommittee, said he is tired of bills subsidizing solar energy. Brandes, however, wants to keep talking about the proposal.

Senators praise Commission Chairman Art Graham and former Rep. Ronald Brisè during a confirmation hearing. After the unanimous votes, a Southern Alliance for Clean Energy representative reiterated her group's disagreements with the PSC on nuclear cost recovery and energy conservation goals for utilities.

Proponents executed a procedural move to buy extra time for SB 800. Meanwhile, DEP says it will likely spend only $110 million of the $125 million it received for petroleum contamination cleanups this year but plans to spend all of the $125 million it is requesting for next year.

The vote largely along party lines followed vigorous debate over the pipeline and HB 281, which urges the president to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. Meanwhile, solar energy supporters released a poll indicating Floridians would oppose allowing utilities to charge a separate fee on solar energy.

Sixty-one percent of voters approved a 2008 constitutional amendment to provide the tax exemption for renewable energy and wind resistance improvements to residential properties. Last year the Legislature passed HB 277, which implemented the amendment but only for renewable energy. SB 916 would ask voters to extend the exemption to commercial property.

The agriculture commissioner outlined his energy proposals before a House subcommittee including cutting a tax on commercial use of energy roughly in half and shifting the remaining $225 million per year in revenue to the Public Education Capital Outlay (PECO) Fund. He also said he doesn't think there is an appetite for renewable energy legislation this year.

Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam last fall proposed extending the property tax exemption for renewable energy to commercial property. The bills filed this week would limit the exemption to the end-users of the energy because of concerns by utilities about competition from new energy providers.

While Florida State University was winning the national championship in football, representatives of waste-hauling businesses and other companies waited in line to file their applications for the first-come, first-served state natural gas fleet vehicle rebates. ... Related Research: Natural Gas Fuel Fleet Vehicle Rebate Program application, Jan. 8, 2014 Preliminary database of rebate applicants, and other information.

The dam along the Florida-Georgia line creates hydropower for communities and fishing opportunities but also raises concerns about the effects downstream on the Apalachicola River. The amount of water flowing through the dam is a focus in the dispute between Alabama and Georgia over water but the lake behind the dam contains only 4 percent of the storage volume among federal reservoirs on the river system.

The study commissioned by the National Wildlife Foundation and the Southern Environmental Law Center raises concerns about natural forests being converted into pine plantations to feed energy plants. The American Petroleum Institute touted another study showing Florida would receive $1 billion over an 18-year period from drilling off the Atlantic Coast. ... Related Research: Biomass energy study news release and report, and Atlantic coast drilling study news release and report.

The Associated Press reports that the "ethanol era has proven far more damaging to the environment than politicians promised and much worse than the government admits today." Rep. Matt Gaetz earlier this month filed HB 243, a House memorial that calls on Congress to repeal the federal renewable fuels production standard.

As former Gov. Charlie Crist announced this week he's campaigning as a Democrat for his old job he touched on environmental themes. However, former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, in a GOP response, said he isn't sure where Crist stands on the environment today. Environmental group representatives say Crist's record was a good one despite a shift on offshore drilling in 2008.