FLORIDA – Governor Enacts Interconnection and Net Metering Law

On June 26, 2008, Governor Charlie Crist enacted legislation (HB 7135) which requires each utility, including coops and munis, to develop a standardized interconnection and net metering program for customer-owned renewable generation by July 1, 2009. (The PSC has already established the rules necessary to administer this legislation, as described below.) The PSC is also required to develop a draft renewable portfolio standard for presentation to the legislature by February 1, 2009.

On March 4, 2008, the PSC issued an order ratifying its new IC/NM rule (Docket 070674-EI). (See April 2008 Connecting to the Grid for details.) The state’s four investor-owned utilities have filed their tariffs to comply with this ruling (see Dockets 080255, 080257, 080260, and 080265) and are awaiting PSC approval. The law HB 7135, discussed above, and the PSC’s IC/NM order are responses to a directive from Governor Charlie Crist for the development of IC/NM rules, plus a 20 percent RPS, with a focus on solar and wind generation.

On May 16, 2008, Florida Power and Light petitioned (Docket 080281-EI) the PSC for approval to build three utility-scale solar facilities totaling 110 MW and to recover the cost through rates, as is permitted by H.B. 7135. These facilities include: 75 MW solar thermal plant located at FPL’s existing Martin plant site; 25 MW solar PV facility located in DeSoto county; and, 10 MW solar PV facility located at the Kennedy Space Center. FPL would like to begin construction by year-end 2008 and will use the experience gained from these facilities to further the development solar facilities in Florida.

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