Measure in Florida That Claims to Back Solar Power May Discourage It

Measure in Florida That Claims to Back Solar Power May Discourage It

Solar panels on a home in Miami.

SCOTT MCINTYRE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

By JOHN SCHWARTZ

OCTOBER 27, 2016

Florida’s biggest electric utility companies are backing a proposed constitutional amendment that, the campaign says, “promotes solar in the Sunshine State.” Not so: If Florida voters approve the ballot measure, it could pave the way for utilities to raise fees on solar customers and cast a heavy cloud over the future of rooftop solar energy in Florida.

Utilities and their allies have spent more than $20 million on the campaign, including inescapable broadcast ads and mass direct mailings. While there is no reliable polling on the measure, unscientific surveys suggest that the amendment can win. Daniel Smith, a professor of political science at the University of Florida, said, “It has a decent shot at passing — because the language is deceptive.”

If approved Nov. 8, the measure would take immediate effect. Because it is a constitutional amendment, it needs to pass with at least 60 percent of the vote to be enacted.

The amendment’s supporters say that it will not retard the expansion of solar power, but opponents are adamant that it will. Former Vice President Al Gore criticized it as a “phony baloney” effort, and while a majority of the Florida Supreme Courtapproved the language of the amendment, the dissenters blasted the law as “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

The state’s newspapers have overwhelmingly opposed the measure, as have most unions, environmental groups, solar energy suppliers and Jimmy Buffett.

It has the support of groups like the 60 Plus Association, a conservative advocacy group, and several business alliances.