As Floridians celebrate Earth Day, state leaders and renewable power producers pushed for legislation to promote clean energy.

Florida CFO Alex Sink said today that she has asked legislators to approve funding for the Florida Solar Rebate Program. Measures to extend the program, which expires in June, are stuck in committees with just over a week left for the state’s legislative session.

Justin Hoysradt, of Abundant Energy, a Jupiter-based solar installer, also called for extending the program as his company prepares to turn on what may be the largest, privately owned, non-utility solar array in South Florida. The kick off will be held today at Sawgrass Business Park in Stuart, which now has more than 500 solar panels on its buildings that will produce 150 kilowatts of power. (See a photo provided by the company below.) A third of the nearly $900,000 cost of the project will come from federal stimulus funds and the developers have applied for a Florida solar rebate.

As for other key measures to increase the state’s renewable energy production, the House is scheduled to debate HB 7229 on Friday. The Senate bills, SB 992 and SB 1186, are not ready to be debated yet.

Proponents of the measures say they can jumpstart Florida’s alternative energy industry and reduce the state’s dependence on fuel and fluctuations of fuel costs. Some environmentalists say the legislation doesn’t go far enough in requiring targets for renewable energy production in the coming years.

The bills allow utilities to pass to customers the costs of plants that produce roughly 700 megwatts of renewable energy in the next few years without full regulatory scrutiny. Provisions in the first two bills would allow other renewable energy producers to sell their electricity to utilities at 80 percent of the price of the utility’s electric rates and require utilities to share 75 percent of the money it makes from renewable energy credits with its customers. A provision in the third would allow utilities to earn an extra profit margin on clean energy projects.

Some environmental groups say the state should focus on saving energy as much as creating more clean power.

Florida is already on its way to being the second largest solar energy producer in the country. By year-end, Florida Power & Light will open the final of three solar plants built under a 2008 law that streamlined cost recovery for the projects.

FPL said today that its power generators produced 845 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per megawatt hour of electricity — 35 percent less than the industry average of 1,297 pounds.

Most recently (2009) the world was captivated by colors and 3 dimensional images in James Cameron’s AVATAR. Out on BlueRay on Earthday 2010 the movie builds an emotional love story around the human race invading and destroying a foreign planet Pandora and it’s people in search for the energy generating super coal Unobtainium. In our world Billions of tons of coal are mined from the Earth’s mountains in a very similar fashion to provide electricity to all of us each day.

In “The American President” Michael Douglas plays Andrew Sheppard a widowed President of the United States of America who falls in love with an environmental lobbyist. The movie is mostly about the romantic comedy of the President and his girlfriend however the climate message that underlies is that President Sheppard has promised his girlfriend he will introduce a climate bill to reduce carbon emissions in the United States by 20% by 2012 if she can generate the support of the house. What makes this even more interesting is this movie was released in 1995, years before Al Gore “made up” global warming.

When two soul mates are separated by two years in time and all that can bring them together is letters in a mail box that they can magically write to each other a global warming reference appears in the end when Sandra Bullock realizes how she can finally meet her true love Keanu Reeves in “The Lake House”.  Released in 2006.

Keanu Reeves is no stranger to movies that remind us that this planet is not ours and we should take care of it, especially when he plays the messenger of bad news in “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” (2004) Believe it or not this move was actually a remake of the 1951 classic sci-fi film about an alien visitor and his giant robot counterpart who visit Earth. Keanu is also pretty good in the critically acclaimed hit, “Pointe Break”.

Al Gore’s warning is played out in more than charts in the action packed move “The Day After Tomorrow” (2004) when climatologist Dr. Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) is drilling ice cores in Antarctica when a piece of the Antarctic Ice Shelf the size of Rhode Island breaks off which triggers a global climate change storm resulting in most of North America covered in ice.

Putting politics aside if you have never seen and Inconvenient Truth it is time to sit down and watch it with your family. I will be picking up a fresh copy of Avatar, on BluRay!

The PSC has to hear out the requests of Nweze and most likely conduct an additional study to prove their decision is not going to affect the lower income working class Floridians as harshly as Ms. Nweze condemns. Her letter attacks solar panels, stating that only the rich and affluent can afford them and “he bottom line is simple. Forcing low- and middle-income Floridians to subsidize energy-efficiency upgrades for those who can afford them is immoral and wrong.”

To be clear to the public, the program Nweze is attacking, estimates at this time, an 18cent per month, per meter charge or rate impact measure to fund the program. This is more that 20X less than storm clean up.

However, in order to humor, Ms. Nweze’s rant and fight for the poor who in her words, “are not the source of the problem because they do not own energy hogging pool pumps, plasma tv’s and don’t even have air conditioning”, let’s just see how much money the PSC is robbing from the poor so the rich can live so lavishly.

Just on the Florida Power and Light grid alone the program would generate approximately $13.8 Million annually to help subsidize energy efficiency upgrades. Let’s also assume 10% of that money must go to administration and marketing to make people aware of the program and ensure money is paid out timely and fairly. That would leave around $12.4 Million available annually for the investment.

Let’s assume that 25% of that money is used to subsidize the cost of solar water heaters with a $500 rebate. Resulting in just over 6,000 new solar water heating systems installed to replace old, high energy using, electric hot water heaters.

Now if Ms. Nweze looked deeper into this pool of money, passed her self serving reflection, she would promote and encourage this program to her under paid constituents which she represents. She would also recommend they take advantage of the State low cost loan program for solar water heating. By doing so, those she is looking to protect could actually benefit from  a 5-10% rise in their income by not having to pay for electric water heating. Be it as it may, she is talking about people who make a mere $10k on paper, but being able to keep an extra $1000 per year might mean a lot to that person, especially since it means a lot to MOST people…

As for the remaining 75% of the money not used for marking, administration or solar water heaters, this money could be used for an additional 930 solar photovoltaic generating systems for the “rich people”. Rich people like the postal worker, boat engine mechanic, school administrator, retired van line sales person, aerospace engineer, body shop technician and high school sports coach we just installed solar energy systems for.

All in all, the program would offset approximately 20MW of dirty power consumed each year for a mere 18cents per meter per month. If the power company could build power plants in mini-doses, according to Moody’s Investor Services, the cost would range around $6000 per kilowatt. (See article).

In other words, here is a chart which severely disproves Nweze’s claim that building new generation will cost the poor 1/3rd less than energy efficiency. But perhaps, what she means is that if new plants are built the PSC should charge higher income earners more…

It is letters like Nweze’s, while her intent is good, her information and accuracy to clearly represent her cause will result in more tax dollars spent by all income classes to give the public service commission more time to research what they already know is false. Just the simple task of drafting more proof will cost money. Please take 10 minutes of your time to support the PSC decision to create a rebate program for energy efficiency upgrades to your home, such as solar water heaters, photovoltaic’s, high efficiency air conditioners and compact florescent light bulbs. (Contact the PSC Here)

Google listened and it has just trumpeted the world’s loudest wake up call to Americans and American Business. Welcome to the world of Google Energy. Google Energy is now fully authorized to buy and sell energy at market rates.

Now the first thing that comes to mind is “am I going to be able to buy power from Google?” Not exactly…

Google is on a mission to be able to supply their offices and data centers with the highest quality and most affordable renewable energy they possibly can. By becoming a registered utility Google now has access to Transmission lines, wholesale energy rates and energy brokerage capabilities.

Google Energy can now develop a wind or solar farm and be granted access to transmission lines as a utility, sell that energy to Google itself and control the rates of its data centers all completely regulated through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

But why is this SO important?

Google Energy has just proven to all of American business that if you are big enough, consume enough energy and have the right technology, you can make financial sense of starting your own “utility”. Being in the business of developing your own “Utility Type” company to develop renewable energy properties to sell energy back to your business entity is the first massive step to a Distributed Renewable Energy Generation.

Expect Google Energy to be followed by the possible likes of, GM Energy, Toyota Energy, Pfizer Energy or maybe even WalMart Energy. Why would these huge consumers of Energy NOT follow in Google footsteps in leasing land, developing energy property and then trading the electricity through the grid to offset their energy bills for their stores, 100 story office buildings or dealerships all while enjoying huge tax credits from the Federal government? This is not a new idea for Google, they have had a long standing goal to be carbon neutral as well as to create renewable energy cheaper than coal (RE>C).

If you’re “Waiting on the World to Change”, watch as businesses follow Google and Google Energy into the renewable energy development and utility trading business. When the Federal Government gets around to signing an energy bill your local utility company may quickly start to offer a rebate for the installation of solar panels on your home, take a second look at what they are offering you, maybe, just maybe Google or one of its possible followers may have a better offer for you.