Florida basks in sunshine, year round, but other states produce much more solar power than us. Why is that? Industry leaders and utility companies tell us that market forces and the cost of alternative technology is just too expensive, but things are changing. Many question, why are utilities at odds with consumers who want solar, or why do utilities in Florida seem to be stuck in 1920s technology?
Florida uses more power that every state in the US, except for California and Texas, but we have to import most of the fuel we need to produce electricity. That means coal and fuel and not only is it an import, it’s dirty. It creates pollution.
Utility efforts to create solar fields, huge acres of photo voltaic cells, seem to be industry keeping up, but I have to ask, why do utilities need to take this on, instead of the consumer doing it ourselves. Solar in every home, owned by the homeowner creates redundancy—and that’s good for everyone.
Having lots of independent power generation provide supply that we could sell back, when needed.
In an outage, after a storm, such redundancy helps us all.
Adding another layer, battery storage in our homes and office, provides even more protection and extra supply. The economic reality is power companies must see this as a threat, and work to prevent this from happening. Let’s hope, they see the light and partner with consumers as readily as they have with Tallahassee.
For years, industry has said they need to scale solar for it to be the smart choice. But consumers want it and prices are coming down, so we’re at a crossroads.
Why isn’t Florida the leader in solar energy?
Here’s a great video from the Florida Channel that explains the reason.
The State of Florida granted monopoly power to utilities in exchange for them to provide service across the entire state. That means that we all have access to electricity, a modern comfort we’ve all grown accustomed to. The problem is, the State of Florida has lagged behind when it comes to allowing the consumer to invest in their own energy generation, like using solar power. We’re making progress, but it’s slow. Monopoly, investor owned utilities are coming around, but continue to lobby and influence law in their favor.
Here’s a great video that explains solar, economics, utilities, and helps every day citizens install.
A link to this video: https://thefloridachannel.org/videos/sun-power-in-the-sunshine-state/
For more information visit the Florida Channel at https://thefloridachannel.org/.