GREENTECH MEDIA — The measure was voted down on Tuesday night, failing to win the 60 percent support it needed to pass. The loss comes despite more than $25 million in backing from large energy companies, with an additional $3.5 million pumped into the campaign days ago. Major contributors include Florida Power and Light, the state’s largest electric utility, and Duke Energy, the second-largest utility. The coalition opposing the measure, Floridians for Solar Choice, is made up of citizens, solar companies, environmental organizations, Tea Party groups, and elected officials. “Today, as a coalition representing every part of Florida's political spectrum, we defeated one of the most egregious and underhanded attempts at voter manipulation in this state’s history,” said Tory Perfetti, chairman of Floridians for Solar Choice and director of Conservatives for Energy Freedom, in a statement. “We won against all odds and secured a victory for energy freedom.” The decoy ploy Floridians for Solar Choice was the first group to launch a solar ballot initiative in Florida for the 2016 election, in which the group sought to allow for third-party solar power agreements. Currently, Florida law only allows utilities to sell electricity. The Solar Choice amendment would have removed that monopoly, opening up the market to competition. But as support gained traction, big utilities poured millions of dollars into a new political action group, deceitfully named “Consumers for Smart Solar,” which launched Amendment 1 to counteract the Solar Choice movement. It worked. In December 2015, the ballot initiative led by the Floridians for Solar Choice coalition was abandoned, failing to collect the necessary number of signatures in time to advance the measure "This is a punch in the jaw" Amendment 1 was written with language that made it seem focused on expanding solar access in the Sunshine State. But in reality, the amendment would have simply affirmed the right to own and lease solar in Florida — a right consumers already have. If passed, Amendment 1 would have preserved the monopoly held by utilities and continued to block competitors, putting a damper on potential solar growth in the Sunshine State. Tom Kimbis, interim president of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), said the Amendment 1 vote should discourage other utilities from attempting to follow Florida’s lead. “The resounding rejection of Amendment 1 should send a message across not just Florida but all states not to curtail solar choice,” he said. The measure was overcome thanks in part to a surge of opposition following the release of leaked audio recordings, which revealed a utility-supported plan to confuse Florida voters. Editorial boards at every major newspaper in Florida opposed the ballot initiative. “This is such a punch in the jaw to the utilities that sponsored this amendment,” said Scott Thomasson, director of new markets at Vote Solar, in an interview. “'David and Goliath' doesn’t begin to describe it,” he added. “When you look at other solar fights around the country, the solar industry and others have brought more resources to bear than what we saw in Florida. This time it was really a lopsided fight.” Thank you to Julia Pyper and Greentech Media for providing the original article below. Source: https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/florida-voters-defeat-utility-backed-solar-amendment
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