Florida Tea Party Pushes For Solar Energy

Solar Power

Such a good idea even the Tea Party understands it.

A tea party leader and a conservative state lawmaker are behind a petition to make solar panels more profitable in Florida, reports Ivan Penn of the Tampa Bay Times. The group is collecting signatures to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would allow residents to sell electricity generated from the sun directly to their neighbors, tenants and friends, instead of giving the utilities a cut.

For conservatives, solar power is a chance to put an end to state-regulated monopolies in electricity and create an opportunity for investment for every homeowner.

Costs in the solar industry have been falling steadily, and utilities are rightly worried about disruption. People who buy solar panels are buying less electricity from utilities, which in turn must maintain power lines and operate plants with less money. Eventually, they might have to raise rates, making solar power even more attractive. This possibility led the hemp-wearing hippies working at Barclays downgraded the debt of the U.S. power sector last year. (In defense of the utilities, opposition to solar power isn't just about profits. Until solar power can be cheaply stored and delivered on demand, consumers will expect utilities to be ready to provide electricity at night and on cloudy days.)

Penn spoke with Debbie Dooley, a tea party advocate who has also been organizing for solar power in neighboring Georgia:

Dooley said the reason the solar efforts have been successful in Republican-dominated areas is that opening up the free market and giving people choice is a core conservative principle. 

"Conservatives will be out front on this to give Floridians choice and a voice," Dooley said. "All too often, the only voice that is heard is the voice of these very powerful and deep-pocketed monopoly utilities."

The price of electricity in Florida is cheaper than the national average, so maybe the state's tea partiers aren't making much money on their solar panels yet. But while we're used to hearing Republicans in Congress argue that climate change could be beneficial, it's worth remembering that a surprisingly large minority of Republicans are environmentalists. Some 32 percent believe protecting the environment is more important than improving the economy, according to a Gallup poll conducted last year.