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The State’s Public Service Commission is reporting a 36 percent increase in the number of solar hookups between 2014 and 2015. and while an impressive increase, Mike Vasilinda tells us the number of people using solar remains tiny.

Ten million Floridians pay an electric bill every month. Now The Public Service Commission is reporting the number of connected solar users has jumped from just over 85 hundred to 11 thousand in 2015. A 36 percent increase. It’s a big jump,  but small numbers overall. Mark Futrell is the Deputy Executive Director at the PSC>

Q:”One tenth of one percent?”

“Well, I guess I would say  what that reflects is that Florida has had a pretty good history at keeping electricity reliable, and safe, and reasonably priced” says Futrell.
With solar penetration at just over one tenth of one percent, Kim Ross of ReThink Energy Florida says it’s regulatory barriers, not low cost electricity that is keeping people from adopting renewables.

“The utilities have a monopoly. they are the only one who can sell energy” says Ross.

Solar for an average house can cost about 16 thousand dollars. That’s before a thirty percent federal tax credit. Solar contractor Al Simpler says growth has been stagnant.

“if you don’t have it in your pocket, where are you going to get the money to put in that investment into solar?” asks Simpler.

The average return on a solar investment? About 11 percent a year.

In August, voters will see a constitutional amendment that will keep an investment in solar or other renewables from raising a businesses property taxes. Home assessments are already protected in the constitution.

In 2014, the PSC allowed the state’s investor owned utilities to reduce their commitment to renewable energy by 90 percent. Renewable advocates say the move sent a message to investors that the state did not care about renewable energy.