Advisory Opinion to the Attorney General re Limits or Prevents Barriers to Local Solar Electricity Supply

177 So. 3d 235, 2015 WL 6387952
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedOctober 22, 2015
DocketNos. SC15-780, SC15-890
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 177 So. 3d 235 (Advisory Opinion to the Attorney General re Limits or Prevents Barriers to Local Solar Electricity Supply) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Advisory Opinion to the Attorney General re Limits or Prevents Barriers to Local Solar Electricity Supply, 177 So. 3d 235, 2015 WL 6387952 (Fla. 2015).

Opinions

PER CURIAM.

The Attorney General of Florida has petitioned this Court for an advisory opinion as to the validity of a citizen initiative amendment to the Florida Constitution, titled “Limits or Prevents Barriers to Local Solar Electricity Supply,” and the corresponding Financial Impact Statement submitted by the Financial Impact Estimating Conference. The constitutional amendment is being proposed by Floridians for Solar Choice, Inc. (the “Sponsor”), pursuant to article XI, section 3, of the Florida Constitution. We have jurisdiction. See art. TV, § 10, art. V, § 3(b)(10), Fla. Const.

This Court’s review of the amendment is limited to two issues. First, we must determine if the proposed amendment meets the requirements of article XI, section 3, Florida Constitution, which provides that “any such revision or amendment, except for those limiting the power of government to raise revenue, shall embrace but one subject and matter directly connected therewith.” Second, we must determine if the ballot title and summary satisfy the requirements of section 101.161(1), Florida Statutes (2014). That statute provides that when a constitutional amendment is submitted to the vote of the people, “a ballot summary of such amendment ... shall be printed in clear and unambiguous language on the ballot.” § 101.161(1), Fla. Stat. Section 101.161(1) also mandates that the ballot summary of the amendment “shall be an explanatory statement, not exceeding 75 words in length, of the chief purpose of the measure.” § 101.161(1), Fla. Stat. The ballot shall also include a separate Financial Impact Statement concerning the measure prepared by the Financial Impact Estimating Conference according to the requirements of section 100.371(5), Florida. Statutes (2014). See § 101.161(1), Fla. Stat.; § 100.371(5), Fla. Stat.

As we explain, we conclude that that proposed amendment embraces a single subject and matter directly connected therewith, and that the ballot summary explaining the chief purpose of the measure is not clearly and conclusively defective. We also conclude that the accompanying Financial Impact Statement complies with section 100.371(5), Florida Statutes. Accordingly, we approve the proposed amendment and Financial Impact Statement for placement on the ballot so long as the remaining requirements of article XI, section 3, of the Florida Constitution, are met.1

I. BACKGROUND

On April 24, 2015, the Attorney General petitioned this Court for an opinion as to the validity of an initiative petition sponsored by Floridians for Solar Choice, Inc., pursuant to article XI, section 3, of the Florida Constitution. The sponsor submit[240]*240ted a brief supporting the validity of the initiative petition. The Attorney General submitted a brief in opposition, as did the Florida Chapter of the National Congress of Black Women, Inc.; the Orlando Utilities Commission; the National Black Chamber of Commerce; the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; the Florida Chamber of Commerce; the Florida Electric Cooperatives Association, Inc.; Florida Power & Light Company, Duke Energy Florida, Gulf Power Company, and Tampa Electric Company; the City of Coral Gables; the Florida Council for Safe Communities; and the Florida League of Cities, Inc., and Florida Municipal Electric Association, Inc.

The amendment proposed by Floridians for Solar Choice, Inc., would add the following new section 29 to article X of the Florida Constitution:

ARTICLE X, SECTION 29. Purchase and sale of solar electricity.—
(a)PURPOSE AND INTENT. It shall be the policy of the state to encourage and promote local small-scale solar-generated electricity production and to enhance the availability of solar power to customers. This section is intended to accomplish this purpose by limiting and preventing regulatory and economic barriers that discourage the supply of electricity generated from solar energy sources to customers who consume the electricity at the same or a contiguous property as the site of the solar electricity production. Regulatory and economic barriers include rate, service and territory regulations imposed by state or local government on those supplying such local solar electricity, and imposition by electric utilities of special rates, fees, charges, tariffs, or terms and conditions of service on their customers consuming local solar electricity supplied by a third party that are not imposed on their other customers of the same type or class who do not consume local solar electricity.
(b) PURCHASE AND SALE OF LOCAL SMALL-SCALE SOLAR ELECTRICITY.
(1) A local solar electricity supplier, as defined in this section, shall not be subject to state or local government regulation with respect to rates, service, or territory, or be subject to any assignment, reservation, or division of service territory between or among electric utilities.
(2) No electric utility shall impair any customer’s purchase or consumption of solar electricity from a local solar electricity supplier through any special rate, charge, tariff, classification, term or condition of service, or utility rule or regulation, that is not also imposed on other customers of the same type or class that do not consume electricity from a local solar electricity supplier.
(3) An electric utility shall not be relieved of its obligation under law to furnish service to any customer within its service territory on the basis that such customer also purchases electricity from a local solar electricity supplier.
(4) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), nothing in this section shall prohibit reasonable health, safety and welfare regulations, including, but not limited to, building codes, electrical codes, safety codes and pollution control regulations, which do not prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting the supply of solar-generated electricity by a local solar electricity supplier as defined in this section.
(c) DEFINITIONS. For the purposes of this section:
(1) “local solar electricity supplier” means any person who supplies electricity generated from a solar electricity generating facility with a maximum rat[241]*241ed capacity of no more than 2 megawatts, that converts energy from the sun into thermal or electrical energy, to any other person located on the same property, or on separately owned but contiguous property, where the solar energy generating facility is located.
(2) “person” means any individual, firm, association, joint venture, partnership, estate, trust, business trust, syndicate, fiduciary, corporation, government entity, and any other group or combination.
(3) “electric utility” means every person, corporation, partnership, association, governmental entity, and their lessees, trustees, or receivers, other than a local solar electricity supplier, supplying electricity to ultimate consumers of electricity within this state.
(4) “local government” means any county, municipality, special district, authority, or any other subdivision of the state, (d) ENFORCEMENT AND EFFECTIVE DATE. This amendment shall be effective on January 3, 2017.

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177 So. 3d 235, 2015 WL 6387952, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/advisory-opinion-to-the-attorney-general-re-limits-or-prevents-barriers-to-fla-2015.