LTC 068-2022 City of South Miami Resolution No. 012-22-15773MIAMI BEACH
OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK
No. 068-2022
LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO: Mayor Dan Gelber and Members of the City Commission
FROM:
DATE:
Rafael E. Granado, City Clerk
February 22, 2022
pf
SUBJECT: CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI RESOLUTION NO. 012-22-15773
Attached for your information is Resolution No. 012-22-15773, adopted by the Mayor and City
Commission of City of South Miami on February 15, 2022.
A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSIONERS OF THE CITY
OF SOUTH MIAMI STRONGLY OPPOSING SENATE BILL 1024 AND
COMPANION BILL HOUSE BILL 741 IN THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE WHICH
SEEK TO DESTROY NET ENERGY METERING AND THE EXPANSION OF
ROOFTOP SOLAR ENERGY.
The City of South Miami Clerk has requested that a copy of this Resolution be provided to the
Miami Beach Mayor and Commissioners.
If you have any questions, please contact the Office of the City Clerk at 305.673. 7 411.
REG/le
Attachment
F:\CLER\$ALL\LILIA\LTC's -Transmittal's\South Miami\Resolution 012-22-15773 City of South Miami.docx
RESOLUTION NO. 020-22-15773
A Resolution of the Mayor and City Commissioners of the City of South Miami
strongly opposing Senate Bill 1024 and companion bill House Bill 741 in the
Florida Legislature which seek to destroy net energy metering and the
expansion of rooftop solar energy.
WHEREAS, Net Energy Metering ("NEM") allows electricity customers to gerierate
power themselves with rooftop solar and offset it against the electricity they buy from their
utility and allowing customers to save money on utility bills and receive bill credits for excess
solar power generated that is shared with the power grid to serve nearby customers; and
WHEREAS, NEM is designed to foster the installation of customer-sited renewable
energy generation; and
WHEREAS, NEM is what has allowed solar to become increasingly accessible to low and
moderate-income households in Florida and empowers Floridians to have choices in how they
receive and pay for electricity; and
WHEREAS, Florida is one of 47 states in the United States that allow homeowners and
business owners to produce power and sell it back to the energy grid and providers; and
WHEREAS, because of the existing net metering law, Florida's rooftop solar industry
supports sustained economic development throughout the State by generating over $18 billion
to the state economy, supporting over 40,500 direct and indirect jobs in Florida alone 1; and
WHEREAS, Florida's solar industry has the second largest solar workforce in the United
States provides over 11,000 direct jobs, as reported by the 11th Annual National Solar Jobs
Census 2 3; and
WHEREAS, Senate Bill ("SB") 10244, and its related bill, House Bill ("HB') 741 5, have been
filed for consideration during the 2021 Florida State Legislative Session; and
WHEREAS, these proposals, as introduced, would slash the credits that customers
receive for sharing their excess electricity with the power grid, thereby making customer-sited
renewable energy more expensive, increasing the amount of time it takes for customers to pay
1 The Washington Economics Group, Inc., on behalf of Conservatives for Clean Energy Florida, "The Comprehensive
Economic Development Impacts of the Rooftop Solar Power Industry on the State of Florida," November 2, 2021,
https://www.cleanenergyconservatives.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/CCE-Rooftop-Solar-Report-November-
2021-l.pdf
2https://irecusa.org/resources/national-solar-jobs-census-2020/
3 https://www.seia.org/state-solar-policy/florida-solar
4 https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2022/1024
5 https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2022/741
Page 1 of 5
Res. No. 020-22-15773
off their solar systems, and significantly diminishing the installation of distributed solar in
Florida; and
WHEREAS, in Nevada where similar changes were made in net metering rules, the solar
industry declined by 80%, forcing the state to reverse course and restore the previous rule; and
WHEREAS, many in the solar industry, homeowners, and providers, oppose legislation
that restricts the expansion of rooftop solar in Florida and organizations in opposition include
but are not limited to the League of Women Voters Florida, Florida Conservation Voters, the
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Solar United Neighbors, Catalyst Miami, the CLEO Institute,
and Vote Solar; and
WHEREAS, Environmental and Climate Justice Chair of the Florida NAACP Florida State
Conference, Lewis Jennings, wrote "Power companies' attack on home-based solar energy
demonstrates their continued insistence that their customers rely on outdated, dangerous
sources of energy that put Florida closer to the devastating consequences of climate change.
That poses an even greater threat to minorities and disadvantaged communities, as they will
experience the first and worst damage from the warming climate. For the sake of these
vulnerable communities, Florida must ensure that important clean energy policies are
preserved and advanced. The Legislature should stop this unfair, unwanted attack on net
metering and the Florida communities who benefit from it."6; and
WHEREAS, on February 3rd, 2009, the City of South Miami passed Resolution No. 23-09-
12832 which committed the City to eliminate net emissions of carbon dioxide and other
greenhouse gasses by 2030; and
WHEREAS, on May 7th, 2019, the City of South Miami passed Resolution No. 59-19-
15331 which committed the City to promote the Sierra Club's "Ready for the 100" campaign to
transition the entire City to 100% clean and renewable energy within the City of South Miami
by the year 2040; and
WHEREAS, in addition to the two resolutions described, the City of South Miami has
passed many more resolutions over the years to show its commitment to reducing emissions
and to promote environmentally sustainable practices and switch to renewable energy (of
which solar is one); and
WHEREAS, the City of South Miami cannot meet its clean energy goals with utility scale
solar alone; and
6 Jennings, Lewis. "An attack on solar net metering threatens Florida's disadvantaged communities I Opinion." Sun
Sentinel, 26 December 2021, https://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/commentary/fl-op-com-invading-sea-net-
metering-solar-low-income-20211226-xp6fcy2nmbghlpczlykw5i2rsa-story.html
Page 2 of 5
Res. No. 020-22-15773
WHEREAS, expanding access to rooftop solar in the City of South Miami will support
resiliency, provide environmental and public health benefits by reducing air emissions, lessen
the impacts of the climate crisis, avoid the need to build costly power generation, add value
directly to the local economy by supporting local job creation, and contribute to the
achievement of reliability and clean energy goals; and
WHEREAS, according to FPL's own cost of service study, which shows how much it costs
to serve each class of customers and how much rates would increase if all classes paid their fair
share, there is over a billion-dollar subsidy to the largest commercial and industrial customers
over the next 4 years that is being paid by residential customers and small businesses.7; and
WHEREAS, some of FPL's largest commercial and industrial customers each gain a
subsidy of over a million dollars per year, paid for by residential customers Fn 7; and
WHEREAS, another subsidy for which FPL lobbied and received approval is FPL's, "Solar
Together" program, in which FPL charges all its rate payers to build a solar power plant, but
then makes payments in the form of bill credits to program "participants," with the largest
credits going to large commercial and industrial customers. These bill credits are paid primarily
by residential customers. The subsidy in this utility-scale so,lar program is now up to over $2
billion in net payment from non-participants to participants where non-participants are
primarily residential customers and small businesses, and participants are primarily the largest
commercial and industrial customers.f"7 ; and
WHEREAS, FPL is giving a credit to rooftop solar customers for excess electricity that
they provide to the electrical grid (the Grid): however, the credit is only at wholesale rates
(1.5458 cents per kwh). FPL is reselling that power to all the other residential customers at the
retail rate of 10.44-cents per kilowatt hour; and
WHEREAS, on the average, those rooftop solar customers who were not over producing
electricity, who are most of FPL's 23,799 rooftop solar customers, were actually paying the
retail rate for a substantial amount of electricity used by them in 2020. See FPL's PSC Report
30-Mar-2021, Interconnection and Net Metering of Customer-Owned Generation Calendar Year
2020.8
WHEREAS, the 6,000 or so rooftop solar customers who sold their extra electricity back
to FPLfnB accounted for a gross profit to FPL that averaged $15. 78 for all 23,799 rooftop solar
customers. Thus, the majority of rooftop solar customers contributed to the Grid by purchasing
a substantial amount of electricity at the retail rate and the few that sold their extra electricity
7 Bradley Marshall, attorney with Earthjustice. We represented Florida Rising, the League of United Latin
American Citizens of Florida, and the Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida in the most recent
FPL rate case and who states that these numbers are from FPL's own projections.
8http: / /www.psc.state.fl.us/Files/PD F /Utilities/Electricgas/CustomerRenewable /2020 /IOU%20PD F /Florid
a%20Power%20and%20Light-%20Interconnection%20and%20Net%20Metering%20Report.pdf
Page 3 of 5
Res. No. 020-22-15773
to FPL, at wholesale rates, contributed $15.78 per rooftop solar customer (the gross profit FPL
gained) for their use of the Grid; and
WHEREAS, FPL's cost-shift analysis is also flawed because it does not consider the help
that rooftop solar provides FPL to meet summer peak demand, as well as its reduction of
demand overall, and that rooftop solar requires less use of the grid since the electricity is
generated close to the customers who are using it; and
WHEREAS, FPL has just received approval to institute a minimum bill of $25 (Minimum
Bill) for all its residential customers and this, in itself, ensure that all customers, including
rooftop solar customers, are paying to maintain the grid, regardless of whether they use any
energy; and
WHEREAS, the Minimum Bill is a significant contribution to the cost of FPL's
infrastructure maintenance, with FPL expecting to bring in an additional $32 million from this
minimum bill from residential customers and which should completely offset the overstated
claim that rooftop solar is being subsidized; and
WHEREAS, we are in a climate change crisis and need to make the transition to clean
energy more accessible and affordable for everyday Floridians with every tool possible which
includes rooftop solar.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSIONERS OF THE
CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA:
Section 1. The foregoing recitals are hereby ratified and confirmed as being true and
correct and are hereby made a specific part of this resolution upon adoption hereof.
Section 2. The Mayor and City Commission of the City of South Miami urges the Florida
Legislature to oppose Senate Bill 1024, House Bill 741, or similar legislation that would destroy
net energy metering and the expansion of rooftop solar energy in Florida.
Section 3. The Mayor and City Commission of the City of South Miami supports
expanding clean energy access by making it easier, not harder, for Floridians to adopt rooftop
solar in all communities and households, particularly those struggling to pay for electricity.
Section 4. The City Clerk shall forward a copy of this Resolution to:
Governor Ronald Dion Desantis,
State Senate President;
State Speaker of the House;
Senator Jennifer Bradley;
Representative Lawrence McClure;
Representative Alex Andrade;
Page 4 of 5
Res. No. 020-22 -15773
Florida Public Service Commission;
Florida Cabinet;
Florida League of Cities;
all municipalities in Miami-Dade County; and
members of the governing bodies of all 67 counties.
Section 5. The Mayor and City Commission of the City of South Miami directs the
City's state lobbyists to advocate against the legislation above and authorizes amending the
2022 State Legislative Package to include this item.
Section 6. Corrections. Conforming language or technical scrivener-type corrections
may be made by the City Attorney for any conforming amendments to be incorporated into the
final resolution for signature.
Section 7 . Severability. If any section clause, sentence, or phrase of this resolution is for
any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, the holding will
not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this resolution.
Section 8. Effective Date. This resolution will become effective immediately upon
adoption.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 15th day of February, 2022.
ATTEST:
u~llle
CITY CL: R K (J
READ AND APPR VEDAS TO FORM,
L
E
APPROVED:
.,,,f .
./
MAYOR
COMMISSION VOTE:
Mayor Philips:
Commissioner Harris:
Commissioner Gil :
Commissioner Liebman :
4 -1
Yea
Yea
Yea
Nay
Commissioner Corey : Yea
Page 5 of 5
C ity Commission Agenda Item Report
Meeting Date: February 15, 2022
Submitted by: Thomas Pepe
Submitting Department: City Attorney
Item Type : Resolution
Agenda Section:
Subject:
Agenda Item No :5.
A Resolution of the Mayor and City Comm issioners of the City of South Miami strongly opposing Senate Bill
1024 and companion bill House Bill 741 in the Florida Legislature which seek to destroy net energy metering
and the expansion of rooftop solar energy. 3/5 (Mayor Philips)
S ugge sted Action:
Attachments :
Memorandum from CA to CC (w Footnotes).docx
Reso_re_SB_1024_Solar_Net_Metering_CArev_v2_ 4_.doc
1
To:
Cc:
From:
Date:
SUBJECT:
CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI
OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY
INTER-OFFICE MEMORANDUM
The Honorable Mayor, Vice Mayor and Members of the City
Commission
Nkenga A. Payne, City Clerk
Thomas F. Pepe, City Attorney
February 9, 2022 ITEM No. 1594
A Resolution of the Mayor and City Commissioners of the City of South Miami strongly
opposing Senate Bill 1024 and companion bill House Bill 7 41 in the Florida Legislature which
seek to destroy net energy metering and the expansion of rooftop solar energy.
REQUEST:
To Oppose Senate Bill 1024 and companion bill House Bill 741 in the Florida Legislature
BACKGROUND:
Net Energy Metering ("NEM") allows electricity customers to generate power themselves with
rooftop solar and offset it against the electricity they buy from their utility and allowing customers
to save money on utility bills and receive bill credits for excess solar power generated that is shared
with the power grid to serve nearby customers; and
NEM is designed to foster the installation of customer-sited renewable energy generation; and
NEM is what has allowed solar to become increasingly accessible to low and moderate-income
households in Florida and empowers Floridians to have choices in how they receive and pay for
electricity; and
Florida is one of 47 states in the United States that allow homeowners and business owners to
produce power and sell it back to the energy grid and providers; and
Page 1 of 5
2
Florida's rooftop solar industry supports sustained economic development throughout the State
by generating over $18 billion to the state economy, supporting over 40,500 direct and indirect
jobs in Florida alone 1; and
Florida's solar industry has the second largest solar workforce in the United States provides over
11,000 direct jobs, as reported by the 11th Annual National Solar Jobs Census2 3; and
Senate Bill ("SB") 10244, and its related bill, House Bill ("HB') 741 5, have been filed for
consideration during the 2021 Florida State Legislative Session; and
SB 1024 and HB 741, as introduced, would slash the credits that customers receive for sharing
their excess electricity with the power grid, thereby making customer-sited renewable energy
more expensive, increasing the amount of time it takes for customers to pay off their solar
systems, and significantly diminishing the installation of distributed solar in Florida; and
In Nevada where similar changes were made in net metering rules , the solar industry declined by
80%, forcing the state to reverse course and restore the previous rule; and
Many in the solar industry, homeowners, and providers oppose legislation that restricts the
expansion of rooftop solar in Florida and organizations in opposition include but are not limited
to the League of Women Voters Florida, Florida Conservation Voters, the Southern Alliance for
Clean Energy, Solar United Neighbors, Catalyst Miami, the CLEO Institute, and Vote Solar; and
Environmental and Climate Justice Chair of the Florida NAACP Florida State Conference,
Lewis Jennings , wrote "Power companies' attack on home-based solar energy demonstrates their
continued insistence that their customers rely on outdated, dangerous sources of energy that put
Florida closer to the devastating consequences of climate change . That poses an even greater
threat to minorities and disadvantaged communities, as they will experience the first and worst
damage from the warming climate. For the sake of these vulnerable communities, Florida must
ensure that important clean energy policies are preserved and advanced. The Legislature should
stop this unfair, unwanted attack on net metering and the Florida communities who benefit from
it. "6; and
On February 3rd, 2009 , the City of South Miami passed Resolution No. 23 -09-12832 which
committed the City to eliminate net emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses by
2030;and
1 The Washington Economics Group, Inc., on behalf of Conservatives for Clean Energy Florida, "The
Comprehensive Economic Development Impacts of the Rooftop Solar Power Industry on the State of Florida,"
November 2, 2021, https://www .cleanenergyconservatives.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/ l l /CCE-Rooftop-Solar-
Report-November-2021-1 .pdf
2 https :/ /irecusa. org/resources/nati o nal-so lar-jobs-cens us-2020/
3 https://www .seia .org/state-solar-policy/florida-solar
4 https ://www.flsenate.gov/Session/B ill /2022 / I 024
5 https://www .flsenate .gov/Session/Bill /2022/7 4 l
6 Jennings, Lewis. "An attack on solar net metering threatens Florida's disadvantaged communities I Opinion ." Sun
Sentinel, December 26, 2021 , https://www .sun -sentinel.com/opinion/commentary/fl-op-com-invading-sea-net-
metering-solar-low-income-20211226-xp6fcy2nmbghlpczlykw 5 i2rsa -story .html
Page 2 of 5
3
On May 7th, 2019, the City of South Miami passed Resolution No. 59-19-15331 which
committed the City to promote the Sierra Club's "Ready for the 100" campaign to transition the
entire City to 100% clean and renewable energy within the City of South Miami by the year
2040;and
The City of South Miami has passed many more resolutions over the years to show its
commitment to reducing emissions and to promote environmentally sustainable practices and
switch to renewable energy (of which solar is one); and
The City of South Miami cannot meet its clean energy goals with utility scale solar alone; and
The expansion of access to rooftop solar in the City of South Miami will support resiliency,
provide environmental and public health benefits by reducing air emissions, lessen the impacts of
the climate crisis, avoid the need to build costly power generation, add value directly to the local
economy by supporting local job creation, and contribute to the achievement of reliability and
clean energy goals; and
According to FPL's own cost of service study, which shows how much it costs to serve each
class of customers and how much rates would increase if all classes paid their fair share, there is
over a billion-dollar subsidy to the largest commercial and industrial customers over the next 4
years that is being paid by residential customers and small businesses 7 ; and
Some of FPL' s largest commercial and industrial customers each gain a subsidy of over a million
dollars per year, paid for by residential customers 8; and
Another subsidy for which FPL lobbied and received approval is FPL's, "Solar Together"
program, in which FPL charges all its rate payers to build a solar power plant, but then makes
payments in the form of bill credits to program "participants," with the largest credits going to
large commercial and industrial customers. These bill credits are paid primarily by residential
customers. The subsidy in this utility-scale solar program is now up to over $2 billion in net
payment from non-participants to participants where non-participants are primarily residential
customers and small businesses, and participants are primarily the largest commercial and
industrial customers.9 ; and
FPL is giving a credit to rooftop solar customers for excess electricity that they provide to the
electrical grid (the Grid): however, the credit is only at wholesale rates ( 1.5458 cents per kwh).
FPL is reselling that power to all the other residential customers at the retail rate of 10.44-cents
per kilowatt hour; and
On the average, those rooftop solar customers who were not over producing electricity, who are
most of FPL's 23,799 rooftop solar customers, were actually paying the retail rate for a
7 Bradley Marshall, attorney with Earthjustice. We represented Florida Rising, the League of United Latin American
Citizens of Florida, and the Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida in the most recent FPL rate case and
who states that these numbers are from FPL's own projections .
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
Page 3 of 5
4
substantial amount of electricity used by them in 2020. See FPL's PSC Report 30-Mar-2021,
Interconnection and Net Metering of Customer-Owned Generation Calendar Year 2020. 10 ; and
Of the 6,000 or so rooftop solar customers who sold their extra electricity back to FPL 11
accounted for a gross profit to FPL that averaged $15.78 for all 23,799 rooftop solar customers .
Thus, the majority of rooftop solar customers contributed to the Grid by purchasing a substantial
amount of electricity at the retail rate and the few that sold their extra electricity to FPL, at
wholesale rates, contributed $15.78 per rooftop solar customer (the gross profit FPL gained) for
their use of the Grid: and
FPL 's cost-shift analysis, which claims that rooftop solar customers are not paying their share of
the cost to maintain the Grid, is also flawed because it does not consider the help that rooftop
solar provides FPL to meet summer peak demand, as well as its reduction of demand overall, and
that rooftop solar requires less use of the grid since the electricity is generated close to the
customers who are using it; and
FPL has just received approval to institute a minimum bill of $25 (Minimum Bill) for all its
residential customers and this, in itself, ensure that all customers, including rooftop solar
customers, are paying to maintain the grid, regardless of whether they use any energy ; and
The Minimum Bill is a significant contribution to the cost of FPL's infrastructure maintenance,
with FPL expecting to bring in an additional $32 million from this minimum bill from residential
customers and which should completely offset the overstated claim that rooftop solar is being
subsidized.
ANALYSIS:
FPL public comments about the alleged subsidy to rooftop solar customers are inconsistent with
the facts published in its own report to the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) concerning
rooftop solar. In one response to the news media, FPL spokesman, Chris McGrath, claimed that
rooftop solar could cost Florida utilities about $700m between 2019 and 2025"12 . These
numbers average 100 m per year during that time period. Then, in a rebuttal to an article in the
Tampa Bay Times from January 2022, FPL claimed that rooftop solar " ... accounts for a $30
million annual subsidy today , [and] it's expected to nearly triple to more than $80 million by
2025."13
Which numbers are correct? Maybe neither. Even if the City Commission were to believe that
the later and more recent allegations are true , at a cost of $30 million, and with 5 .6 million
customers , the cost would only be a $5.36 subsidy paid by each of the 5 .6 million customers .
10
http://www .p sc.state .fl .us/Files/PDF/Utilities/Electricgas/CustomerRenewable/2020/IOU%20PDF/Florida%20Powe
r%20and%20Light-%20Interconnection%20and%20Net%20Metering%20Report.pdf
11 Ibid.
12 "Revealed : th e Florida power company pushing legislation to slow rooftop solar", theguardian.com , December 20,
2021.
13 https ://www.tampabay .com/opinion/2022/01 /24 /fpl-responds-to-times -editorial -on -solar-net-metering-column/
Page 4 of 5
5
When looking at FPL's own report to the PSC, the truth is that rooftop solar customers are
contributing electricity to FPL's grid in excess of the amount that rooftop so lar customers use
and rooftop solar customers are only being paid 1.5458 cents per kwh, according to one
customer 14 . While FPL is giving a credit to rooftop solar customers for excess electricity that
they provide to the electrical grid (the Grid), the credit is only at wholesale rates (1.5458 cents
per kwh). FPL is reselling that power to all the other residential customers at the retail rate of
10.44-cents per kilowatt hour 15 • In FPL's 2020 report 16 , FPL stated that it had paid $65,305.00
to customers who contributed solar electricity to the grid in 2020. If FPL had paid rooftop solar
customers at the retail rate per kilowatt hour, the amount would have been $441,055.89. (FPL
paid $65,305.00 at wholesale rate of $0.015458 per kwh, which equals 4,224,673 kwh of extra
electricity put into the grid per year. 4,224,673 kwh times $0.1044 (retail rate) equals
$441,055.89). Therefore, rooftop solar customers, on the average, are each contributing $15.78
($441,055.89 minus amount paid of $65,305.00 equals $375,750.89 divided by 23,799 rooftop
solar customers (See FPL's 2020 report) equals $15.78) to the cost of the Grid by subsidizing the
cost of electricity. Moreover, most of the 23,799 rooftop solar customers in 2020, according to
FPL's 2020 report, consumed IO times the amount of solar electricity that they produced in 2020
(I 08,281, 159 kwh delivered to FPL by FPL's 23,799 rooftop solar customers and 1,040,834,034
kwh was consumed by those same customers). Thus, on the average, those rooftop solar
customers who were not over producing electricity, most of FPL's 23,799 rooftop solar
customers who FPL falsely claims to being subsidized, were actually paying the retail rate for a
substantial amount of electricity used by them in 2020. See FPL's PSC Report 30-Mar-2021,
Interconnection and Net Metering of Customer-Owned Generation Calendar Year 2020 17 •
RECOMMENDATION:
Adopt a resolution opposing Senate Bill 1024 and companion bill House Bill 741 in the Florida
Legislature.
14 https://community.sense.com/t/fpl -buy-back-rate/ 13184/2
15 Hurtibise, Ron, "FPL says its bills are 'well below' the national average. Here's what we found.", Sun Sentinel ,
November 16, 2021.
16
http ://www .psc.state.fl.us/Files /PDF /Ut iliti es/E lectricgas/CustomerRenewab le/2020 /IOU¾20PDF/F lorida%20Powe
r%20and%20Light-%20Interconnection%20and%20Net%20Metering%20Report.pdf
17 Ibid.
Page 5 of 5
6