Tampa Electric Company has asked state regulators to approve a proposed agreement that would largely freeze base rates though 2021 and help lead to an expansion of solar energy.
Voters in sun-bathed Florida will face a decision Tuesday that could weigh heavily on the use — and cost — of solar power in the state. The solar power industry is opposed to Amendment 1, a proposal to amend the state constitution that will appear on the ballot as “Florida Solar Energy Subsidies and Personal Solar Use Initiative.” Utilities — including Florida Power & Light Co. — have spent upward of $20 million trying to get the amendment on the…
The committee backing Amendment 1 took in another $560,000 between Oct. 7 and Oct. 14, all of it from Florida Power & Light. Consumers for Smart Solar has now raised more than $22 million this cycle and had about $1.5 million of that money on hand Oct. 14. FPL has donated about $6.1 million of Consumers’ total fundraising, with another $5.7 million coming from Duke Energy, $3 million from Tampa Electric, and $2.2 million from Gulf Power Company. The utility-backed…
A constitutional amendment intended to expand the use of solar power in Florida has passed. The measure is won statewide by a huge 73 percent to 27 percent margin. The measure needed 60 percent to win. Amendment 4 exempts solar devices and equipment from being subject to the personal tangible property tax. A business that currently has solar panels is now being taxed on the panels or devices in addition to their building. The new amendment will now exempt businesses with solar panels from paying…
Florida candidates and committees collected more than $10.5 million in contributions for the July 30 through Aug. 5 reporting period, though a lot of that money can be tagged to a handful of players. More than a quarter of that total came from utility companies pumping money into Consumers for Smart Solar, the committee backing the solar initiative on the November ballot. Duke Energy led the cadre of power companies with a $1.5 million check to Smart Solar, with FPL,…
At the site of the future Manatee Solar Energy Center in Parrish, Florida Power & Light executives, environmentalists, state and local officials cheered as a groundbreaking ceremony significantly changed the dynamics of solar power in the Sunshine State. At 10:50 a.m. Thursday, FPL President and CEO Eric Silagy and Agricultural Commissioner Adam Putnam flipped the switches on dual Tuchi pile drivers to start the next phase of a 10-plus-year vision for innovation by the Sunshine State’s largest energy provider. The…
So far five lawsuits have been filed against TECO seeking to halt the company’s planned merger with Canadian company Emera Inc. The lawsuits argue the $10.4 billion price tag is a ripoff for shareholders. The agreed-upon price tag includes $3.9 billion in debt and represents about $27.55 per share. That’s higher than the $21.07 closing stock price the day the acquisition was announced on September 4. Even still, TECO announced the sale highlighting a different stock share number — $18.39…
