Al Gore Calls Florida Solar Amendment “Phoney Baloney”

Utilities behind solar amendment are trying to trick voters into ending net metering, Al Gore says

Josh Gillin, October 21, 2016 (Politifact)

“…[While campaigning for Hillary Clinton in Florida, former Vice President Al Gore] said the utility companies that back Amendment 1 make it sound like it fosters solar, but the true aim is darker..[and it is] a ‘phony baloney’ initiative propped up by utilities…[The Florida Supreme Court determined the language of Amendment 1, called ‘Rights of Electricity Consumers Regarding Solar Energy Choice’ is] not misleading and approved it 4-3. It is widely considered a deliberate attempt by utilities to erect barriers to competition and prevent third-party leasing of solar…[Audio surfaced this month of a utility lobbyist saying the amendment, backed by almost $22 million from utilities, would] ‘completely negate anything they (pro-solar interests) would try to do either legislatively or constitutionally…’

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[C]ritics like Gore say it will allow utility companies to end a process called net metering…[which] allows someone to sell excess solar-generated power to the utilities…[and get] a lower bill because they draw less electricity from the traditional, power plant-supplied grid…Utility companies nationwide have argued that this is unfair, because homes with solar panels are getting all the benefit of being connected to the grid without having to pay as much for the upkeep of generators and transmission lines…A Brookings Institution study in May looked at net metering in several states and concluded that when solar customers sell their power back to the electric utility through net metering, it actually helps non-solar customers in a few ways…The amendment is widely considered to be deceptively worded and erects barriers to solar power that would favor traditional utilities. Gore is right to warn solar proponents it would work against their broader efforts…[But] he went a bit too far to say the amendment would automatically grant utilities unchecked ‘authority’ to kill net metering. We rate his statement Half True.” click here for more

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