Off the Grid

With a goal of lowering greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 in mind and an effort to electrify its public transportation fleet already underway, Miami-Dade County is now taking another stand against climate change, by encouraging property owners to go solar.

The county recently launched its 2022 solar co-op in partnership with Solar United Neighbors (SUN), a national nonprofit whose philosophy might well be that there’s strength in numbers. SUN helps communities harness their bulk-purchasing power in order to save money on solar panel installations.

The co-op, which is free to join, allows residents and business owners to learn about the benefits of going solar together before committing to the transition. With SUN as its facilitator, a group of interested buyers submits a competitive request for proposal, to which companies respond with an array of discounted rates and deals.

But while the co-op vows to save residents money, utilities have long been looking to undermine such efforts.

When Gov. Ron DeSantis surprisingly vetoed legislation passed by the Republican majority that would have derailed the movement to go solar by weakening existing financial incentives – with major utility Florida Power & Light as the bill’s main orchestrator – solar advocates breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Still, FPL is ready to go back to the drawing board and find another way to eliminate what it refers to as subsidies for solar customers at the expense of non-solar users.

With threats trickling down from the state, the county may one day have to switch its narrative from one of financial friendliness to one of sheer environmental preservation. Laura Tellez, SUN’s South Florida program coordinator, says the benefits of going solar are fivefold, enabling clean energy, economic stimulation, decentralized power production, storm resiliency and electricity efficiency.

In the meantime, the county’s initiative remains in effect, and those who found success with the last co-op are today enjoying lower utility bills and reliable energy.

Solar Success

Westchester resident Maria Kneipple already had the desire to go solar when she first heard of the county’s 2018 co-op on the radio. She attended an informational session with her husband and soon after became a member of the group, as well as of its selection committee. In the end, the co-op chose Cutler Bay Solar Solutions for its solar needs.

Kneipple paid about $32,000 for a 12-kilowatt system – what she believes is a price far less expensive than she could have bargained for on her own. Her system doesn’t cover all of her energy usage, especially during hotter summer months, but still, her monthly bill to FPL is just a fraction of what it used to be. She’s gone from paying an average of $211 a month to just $52 since her panels were installed.

Esver Camacho also was a member of the 2018 solar co-op, along with his parents and brother. He signed with the vendor in October – paying $24,000 upfront for approximately 34 panels – and by November was already enjoying his solar energy.

Camacho, who attended the recent April 13 co-op launch along with Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, advises homeowners looking to go solar to check in with their current electricity usage before making the change. This includes making sure one has proper insulation, an efficient air conditioning system and a sturdy roof.

“What happens is, you calculate your solar needs based on how much you’re currently spending,” Camacho explained, “and if you’re overspending because all your stuff is old and inefficient, then you’re going to wind up spending more money on solar than you really need to.”

Otherwise, Camacho says, the panels pay for themselves. Neither his nor Kneipple’s systems have required any maintenance in the past four years – especially since Miami’s frequent rainfall provides natural cleanings.

Cost-Free Maintenance

Tellez notes that frequent rain could actually be a concern for residents in major hurricane zones. But to people living in Florida’s panhandle who worry about potential damage caused by common storms, she assures, the panels are more of an asset than they are a compounded risk.

She’s heard from customers whose solar panels stayed put after being hit by Hurricanes Irma and Michael in 2017 and 2018. In fact, the panels may even have added protection; in some cases, those parts of the roof underlying the panels were the only parts that made it out of a storm without damage.

Add in a battery, Kneipple vouches, which stores unused energy, and you won’t have to worry about power outages, either.

Storm durability is one of the guarantees under the 25-year production warranty that’s offered by most solar panel manufacturers. Camacho was able to take advantage of his own warranty when one of his power inverters – an essential part to a solar energy system – malfunctioned. The inverter was replaced quickly at no extra cost.

Like Kneipple, Camacho also used to pay FPL a monthly average of more than $200. Now, he says, he pays the utility less than $30 a month. And, since he went solar, there have been several months where his panels covered all of his energy usage – although he still had to pay the minimum cost for staying connected to the public grid. There were months when Camacho paid FPL no more than $10.

The Florida Public Service Commission (PCS) has since approved FPL’s requests for a new minimum base bill of $25 a month, which will take effect June 2022. Duke Energy, another major electric utility in Florida, increased its minimum bill to $30 at the beginning of this year.

Kneipple doesn’t mind the minimum bill. She says she can understand paying a cost to FPL to stay connected to the public grid in case of an emergency. What she doesn’t understand, however – and what pro-solar advocates are desperately fighting against – is FPL’s unwaning efforts to do away with net metering.

State-Level Threats

Net metering is a process that allows solar users to contribute their own excess energy to the public grid in exchange for a one-to-one credit, much like a cell phone plan’s rollover minutes. At the end of each month, a negative net meter value – representing unused energy measured in kilowatt hours – is rolled over to the following month at the retail rate.

If the homeowner later needs to access additional energy from the public grid, the portion covered by the credit won’t show up on their utility bill. Each month may bring a positive or negative value to a homeowner’s net meter, and at the end of the year, the final value rolls over at wholesale rate.

“Net metering currently is our only pro-solar policy in Florida,” says SUN’s Florida program director, Heaven Campbell. “It’s really the bedrock of solar economics. It is what makes solar payback work, and it’s also just inherently a fair credit.”

Until DeSantis’ unexpected veto on April 27, that incentive was being threatened by FPL and the state Legislature. House Bill 741, passed by both the Senate and House, would have gradually decreased the one-to-one credit – also known as a buy-back rate – before being completely abandoned in 2029.

FPL and other utilities argue that solar users threaten their revenues and in turn jack up the costs that non-solar users have to pay, but solar advocates insist that the opposite is true.

When solar users share excess energy with the public grid, that energy goes directly to their neighbors, actually saving utilities money, says Campbell. The utility gets to enjoy full revenue with lower production costs.

“[Net metering] reduces things like brownouts or glitches in the stability of the electricity delivered,” she explained, “and it’s less wear and tear on the grid, so it actually costs [the utility] less money. FPL didn’t have to produce it, and they didn’t have to transmit it,” but they still charge as if they did.

Keeping Residents Chained to the Public Grid

So why does FPL continue to lobby against net metering? Here’s Campbell’s guess: she suspects that utilities actually want wear and tear on the public grid. When FPL goes to the PCS with reports of damage, there’s usually some leeway to pocket a portion of the money allocated for repairs, which, Campbell says, means more to them than a resident’s monthly bill or any minor change in production costs.

She refers to “loopholes” in the recently vetoed bill that would have propelled the utility’s interests even further. A cost recovery clause – also cited by DeSantis as his reason for denying the legislation – would have allowed utilities to petition the PSC for recovery of so-called lost revenue represented by any growth in solar occurring up until 2024, forcing all customers to bear that cost.

“Given that the United States is experiencing its worst inflation in 40 years and that consumers have seen steep increases in the price of gas and groceries, as well as escalating bills, the state of Florida should not contribute to the financial crunch that our citizens are experiencing,” reads DeSantis’s veto letter.

Other loopholes included the ability for utilities to file for an automatic end to net metering – even before the allocated date in 2029 – once renewable energy generation reached 6.5% of the utility’s summer peak load, as well as the legalization of rate discrimination against solar customers. A law similar to the latter is currently in effect in Alabama, where utility Alabama Power is charging a $40 rate exclusively to residents with solar panels.

“That’s something that the utilities here are definitely looking to do – to hit people with these punitive charges,” Campbell said. “Based on their own data, the majority of these people are not wealthy. These are low- and middle-income working-class families that are just trying to build wealth and save money on their utilities bill.”

A Need to Act Fast

This isn’t the first time that FPL has publicly tried to undermine solar rights. In 2016, it poured millions of dollars in sponsorship for Amendment 1, which could have limited solar expansion had it not been heavily voted against at the ballot box.

Now, it’s uncertain which venue the utility will attempt to lobby next in an effort to do away with net metering. But, it seems, the fight is all but over.

“At FPL we are always working to deliver clean, reliable energy while keeping customer bills affordable,” said FPL spokesperson Chris McGrath. “We remain committed to finding an equitable net metering solution for all Floridians. FPL is leading the nation’s largest solar expansion and we will continue to advance solar that is cost-effective for all our customers.”

Although the DeSantis veto has lifted a weight off the shoulders of solar consumers, Tellez and Campbell assure that there are still financial incentives in making the transition sooner rather than later. The main one takes place at the federal level.

The Investment Tax Credit (ITC) is a one-time credit that solar users can file for after having their system installed. Kneipple and Camacho, for instance, received a credit equal to 30% of their total installation costs at the end of the 2019 fiscal year.

That credit is due to end in 2023, however, and each year until then brings with it a reduction. The ITC is currently at 26%. Next year it’ll be 22%, and in 2024 it’ll be gone, although business owners will still be able to receive a 10% credit for commercial systems.

For ways to take action or to join a solar co-op, visit SolarUnitedNeighbors.org.