Photograph: Miami Herald, Floodlight, Energy & Policy Institute “I just want to reach out and see if I could get an electronic copy of the net metering bill so I can put it into drafting,” she said.Įmails obtained in a public records request show FPL drafted a bill to end net metering so that a Florida state lawmaker could introduce the legislation. Ten days later, Heffley emailed him again. Holley opted instead to drop off a copy in person. Heffley suggested he could “send it via email today or we will be at the Capitol next week”. “I just wanted to check in and see if you had any follow up information or language in regards to the net metering bill you discussed with Senator Bradley.”Įight minutes later, Holley replied: “I do. “Good afternoon, Hope you’re doing well,” Heffley wrote. On 8 October this year, legislative aide Katie Heffley emailed Holley under the subject line “Net Metering Bill”. “It was based on our discussion and it was one that I could support as a starting point.”Įmails show Bradley’s staff followed up with FPL after that discussion. Bradley said the bill language emerged after a meeting with Holley and other members of the utility industry. She is married to former state senator Rob Bradley, an influential politician who was head of the budget committee. ‘Significant costs’īradley, the bill sponsor, is a first-term senator but is close to Senate leadership. In response to questions for this story, FPL denied any wrongdoing related to political campaigns. A Florida state attorney is investigating. The candidate diverted votes and helped Republicans maintain a majority in the state Senate. One group, Grow United, was behind a candidate who had no political background but the same last name as the incumbent Democrat. FPL has also invested millions in swaying elections in favor of Republicans.Īccording to reporting by the Orlando Sentinel, FPL executives have been tied to a series of “dark money” groups with untraceable donors. FPL backed a failed ballot amendment in 2016 that would have allowed regulators to impose fees and barriers to rooftop solar installation. The Florida bill is just one front in a decade-long battle against the policy. They don’t make money off of solar power generated from rooftops. Electricity companies like FPL make money off of the things they build: mainly large power plants and lines that bring that energy to customers. Rooftop solar, while critical to fighting climate change, is a threat to the traditional utility business model. Nationwide, power companies are feeling pressured by the rise of distributed renewable energy. The proposed legislation could seriously curtail that growth. But the arrangement has driven significant rooftop solar expansion. Only about 90,000 Florida electricity customers, about 1%, sell excess energy back to the grid. The bill as it is written will decimate this industry.” I’m hopeful this is a conversation-starter but at the same time it’s really hard to have a conversation when you have a gun to your head. “Companies do not pass legislation,” she said. Katie Chiles Ottenweller, south-east director for Vote Solar, said she was wary, given FPL’s clout in the legislature. The solar industry is fiercely opposing the effort. “We simply believe rooftop solar customers should pay the full cost of this investment,” McGrath said. FPL argues that rooftop solar could cost Florida utilities about $700m between 20, according to documents submitted to state regulators. “This discussion about fairness in metering is happening in legislatures across the country and it’s time for it to happen in Florida.”įPL’s parent company, NextEra, said its political committee did not make its contribution to Bradley’s campaign “with an expectation of favor”.Īn FPL spokesman, Chris McGrath, said the company does not oppose net metering but that the law should be revised so rooftop solar users are not subsidized by other customers who continue to buy electricity and pay to maintain the power grid. “Any decision I make to file legislation is based entirely on whether it’s in the best interest of our state and my district,” she said. Another lawmaker introduced the same measure in the House.īradley said the donation was unrelated to the bill. A month later, Bradley filed a bill that was almost identical to the one FPL gave her. FPL’s parent company contributed $10,000 to Bradely’s political committee on 20 October. Internal emails obtained from the Florida Senate show that an FPL lobbyist, John Holley, sent the text of the bill to state senator Jennifer Bradley’s staff on 18 October. Florida Power & Light (FPL), whose work with dark money political committees helped secure Republican control of the state Senate, is lobbying to hollow out net metering, a policy that lets Florida homeowners and businesses offset the costs of installing solar panels by selling power back to the company.
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