The answer is yes! Floridians voted yesterday to fix an issue in the State constitution that will now exempt solar from commercial property taxes, this is in addition to the already existing residential property tax exemption. While commercial energy rates in the State are still low, as costs drop, the exemption should increase the amount of C&I solar that is built here. More importantly, this will exempt 3rd party owned solar in Florida from tangible property taxes and return north of 20% of potential revenues to third party owners. I don’t foresee a rush to solar by the residential companies because we have a credible issue on the ballot in November with a utility backed amendment that confuses voters into believing they are doing something good for solar. I look forward to seeing how this plays out, in the meantime IKEA in my County is going to get a pleasant tax break from their 1MW system. (NextEra also will save quite a bit of money on their 110MW solar farms they already have in place)
- Mother Jones: Will Florida Voters Go Big for Solar?
- PV-Magazine: Washington D.C. is not meeting its solar carve-out
- Renew Economy: Solar power does work – and a lot better than we thought
- Charlotte Observer: Duke Energy, solar developers sign agreement on grid connections
- SolarWakeup: Could Community Solar Help Spread The Revolution?
- Think Progress: Environmental Group Backs Republican Florida Congressman In New Ad
- Bloomberg: Engie, Green Climate Fund Invest in Off-Grid Solar Developer
- Alabama.com: Ethics Commission to reconsider solar power lease for PSC member
Opinion
Have a great day!
Yann