I, like so many, can only afford solar because of net metering | Opinion

Bruce Strouble
Fri, March 4, 2022

I am a proud solar homeowner. My panels save my family money on our energy bills every month - bills that for many, have only gotten higher as Florida Power & Light continues to raise rates.

I am not a wealthy man. I come from a community that can be described as “low-to-moderate income,” and the only reason I could afford to put solar panels on my roof was net metering - the fundamental policy that some state lawmakers want to eliminate through HB 741 and SB 1024.

The system they want to destroy, net metering, allows people of all income levels to not only install rooftop solar panels and generate their own resilient, clean electricity, but also share that clean energy with their neighbors.

My family wanted to reduce our carbon footprint and control our energy costs. Net metering gives us, and those like us, the ability to do so. Getting rid of net metering will shut out people of all income levels from the freedom to choose how they power their homes

False statements being pushed by Florida’s monopoly utilities claim that only wealthy people own solar - and that low-income communities subsidize them. Not only is there no proof of this, but hard data proves the opposite to be true.

For example, in Florida Power & Light’s territory, nearly 80% of its customers live below $100,000 a year. Statewide, 60% of rooftop solar customers live on incomes less than $100,000. It is us working-class Floridians who want–and need–control over their energy bills and choices. Furthermore, net metering customers do not avoid any charges. Instead, they offset those charges with the production of additional electricity that becomes available to their community.

Officials of Talquin Electric Cooperative at Liberty County, home of the FL Solar D3 – Bristol location, one of three solar projects underway, on Jan. 13, 2021.

We need to push back against private interest groups that do not care about the average Floridian and continue to put profits ahead of the needs of communities like mine. Low-to-moderate communities face a heavier energy burden, and rooftop solar is how we can reduce it while accessing the benefits of clean, resilient energy.

Let’s be clear. Barely 1% percent of Floridians own rooftop solar panels. Taking away a basic solar policy when the state has only scratched the surface with clean energy is equivalent to knocking out the foundation of a house before it even has windows and doors installed. What’s the point?

If we want to see Florida become a leader in clean energy, to live up to our name as the Sunshine State, then we should be doing the opposite of what this utility-crafted, anti-solar legislation wants to do. We should be creating more opportunities for people to choose solar.

The bottom line: solar is not a partisan issue with Floridians. In fact, a newly released Mason Dixon poll shows 84% of Floridians (76% Republicans and 95% Democrats) support net metering. It doesn’t make sense to eliminate this popular billing mechanism.

Florida is at a critical moment. It’s important for everyone to fight for the right to control our energy costs and to invest in a clean, resilient future for all Floridians today and for generations to come.

Bruce Strouble
Bruce Strouble is a solar homeowner and Sustainability Coordinator for the City of Tallahassee. The opinions expressed here represent his personal views and not the City of Tallahassee's.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: I, like so many, can only afford solar because of net metering | Opinion