Anyone who is in the solar business or has invested in solar in the last year probably cringes every time they drive north of Orlando on the Turnpike when they see the billboards promoting Florida as the Solar State. It is especially discouraging when a four year solar energy program is now perceived as a failure, not because of lack of interest but because of lack of funding, or political will.

Frustration has been building day in and day out, clients calling their installers and the Governors Energy Office without any sign of hope that the State is willing to make good on their promises. I recently had a conversation with a very high ranking politician who couldn’t find value in funding the solar program because no jobs would be created; the money owed was for previous jobs. After the stunt the legislature pulled during their so called special session lasting only 43 minutes debating over the motion to adjourn which came within the first 15 minutes of the session, the people of Florida are looking forward to this year’s election season, and being an incumbent is not a good seat to be in.

Then came the magical sign of hope. A theoretical double rainbow that has led the Florida Energy & Climate Commission to a pot of gold.  This week the Florida Energy & Climate Commission decided to allocate $13.8 million in unspent “found” Federal Stimulus dollars to begin issuing checks to some of the approved solar rebate applicants. Though this is only the tip of the iceberg in claims to be paid it’s a start. Additionally the commissioners said that the program stoked the false expectation that people who installed their solar system during the program timeline would automatically receive rebates, eventually. The result, the long waiting list of people who didn’t want to miss out on solar rebates if the legislature failed to act again…

The commission has publicly committed to continue to seek additional funds for those still waiting unfortunately there is no timeframe as to when the additional money will be found. The proverbial check is in the mail, but for some of you, it really is.

So Intense.

And a big solar industry Thank You for co-sponsoring the Amendment for the Extension and Expansion of the Federal Treasury 1063 Grant!

This program was originally part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The program is set to expire in the end of 2010. The benefit to this program is that it allows a qualified parties who invest in renewable energy, such as solar, to receive a grant in lieu of a 30% Federal Tax Credit.

Extension of this program is estimated to create over 143,000 jobs by the end of the year and enable 4,250 megawatts of renewable energy power projects to come on line.

Amendments offered also extends the Treasury Grant Program to non-profit power producers, the Tennessee Valley Authority, Real Estate Investment Trusts and provides technical clarification and elimination of a rule (“normalization”) and that normally would allow utilities to pass the grant money income to shareholders rather than reduce the cost of the project to the ratepayers.

You may have to sign in to YouTube to view this video:

Here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI607dT4Tgs

June 10, 2010, 4:00 pm

A Stimulus Package With No Jobs?

By MATTHEW L. WALD

Is it possible to botch stimulus spending on renewable energy projects? Florida and the federal Department of Energy have found a way, according to the Energy Department’s inspector general.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act authorized $3.1 billion in grants for the state energy programs, and the Energy Department allocated $126 million for Florida, a vast increase over the average of the previous few years, which was $1.4 million.

There were some rules. The state had to decide where to spend the money by Sept. 30 of this year and actually spend it by April 30 of next year. And the spending was supposed to preserve and create jobs, save energy, and increase renewable energy.

In a report released on Thursday, the inspector general said that Florida had given $8.3 million in rebates “related to solar energy projects that had been completed prior to the passage of the Recovery Act.”

Florida had had its own rebate program, which ran out of money in early 2008, and it had a backlog of people waiting to collect. But the work had already been completed, so no jobs were created by Florida’s use of the money in this fashion. Still the Energy Department approved the expenditure.

At least that money was spent quickly. The state had set itself a deadline of pinpointing where all of the money would be spent by the beginning of this year, the audit said, but missed its deadline, partly because it chose projects that turned out not to be eligible.

The Energy Department office that oversees the program agreed with the findings but pointed out that no state energy program had ever encountered the “scale of funding” provided under the Recovery Act.

The state itself noted it was having some bureaucratic problems. For example, allocation of the money was subject to the review of the Florida Energy and Climate Commission, which is a volunteer body that meets only monthly.

And Florida complained that while the Energy Department had found one project ineligible last December, it had approved the same project two months earlier.

It involved the production of ethanol from algae, but the Energy Department eventually disapproved the grant because the company seeking the money had not begun commercial production.

Flooding a small state program with federal cash exposed another weakness. According to the inspector general, a single staff member was receiving rebate forms, recording them, approving the payments and then mailing the checks.

These duties should have been separated among several people “to minimize the possibility of theft,” the inspector general said. (No actual theft was identified.)

But the Florida program “has historically had a small staff,’’ the state replied. Now that it is doling out larger sums of money, those jobs are split among eight people, it said.