Competitive market amendment offers reasonable balance for all types of renewable energy production in Florida.

Tallahassee, FLToday in the Communication, Energy & Public Utilities Committee of the Florida Senate, Senator Thad Altman will be introducing a competitive market amendment allowing independently built renewable energy systems to compete to sell electricity to the grid. The amendment will be heard in relation to Senate Bill 2078, which allows utility companies to raise their rates by 2% and then use those funds to self-build, own and operate renewable energy facilities. The amendment would allow the utilities to self-build 80% of the total project development and require that 20% of the total development to come from electricity that is purchased from distributed generation systems, including wind, solar and biomass, through a competitive market."Distributed generation systems, if given the chance to sell the electricity that they produce to the energy grid at a competitive price, would attract massive private investments and lift significant burden off of the ratepayers of Florida. The private investment market is clamoring to invest in Florida, and Senator AltmanThe Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy (FARE), as part of the Distributed Energy Coalition, supports the amendment filed by Senator Altman which allows for a free and competitive market for the production and sale of renewable energy - giving businesses, farmers and individuals in Florida the chance to develop renewable energy projects through a distributed generation model. According to Mike Antheil, Executive Director of FARE “Distributed generation systems, if given the chance to sell the electricity that they produce to the energy grid at a competitive price, would attract massive private investments and lift significant burden off of the ratepayers of Florida. The private investment market is clamoring to invest in Florida, and Senator Altman’s amendment would open the door to let them in. This type of production would result in thousands of local jobs and keep millions of dollars reinvested in local Florida economies.”

The Senate Committee on Communication, Energy & Public Utilities meets Monday, April 4^th at 1pm.