Florida leaders passed on a chance to secure up to $400 million in federal money to help low-income households install solar panels, disregarding an initiative by the Biden administration to promote clean energy in disadvantaged communities.
Florida is among a handful of states that didn’t apply for the federal government’s $7 billion “Solar for All” competition.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and his Republican allies are hurting Floridians by not seeking federal money that could help lower energy bills, U.S. Rep. Darren Soto said.
“This is more money Gov. DeSantis and the Republican supermajority left on the table,” the Central Florida Democrat said. “All this is doing is hurting poor people.”
While the state is not applying for solar funding, a coalition of nonprofit organizations is trying to tap into the program, said Yoca Arditi-Rocha, executive director of the CLEO Institute, a climate change advocacy group.
“We are hopeful the dollars and funding will still come,” she said, adding that the coalition includes the Nature Conservancy, United Solar Neighbors and the Solar and Energy Loan Fund. “That said, it was frustrating not to see our state jumping on that opportunity. We are the Sunshine State, after all.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency expects to make 60 awards that will span from $25 million to $400 million to states, local governments, Native American tribes and nonprofit groups. The program aims to reduce household electricity costs by at least 20%.
DeSantis’ office referred questions about why Florida didn’t apply to Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, an independently elected constitutional officer. Simpson’s department oversees the state’s Office of Energy. An agency spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Florida was one of six states that did not seek the money. Others were Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota and South Dakota, according to the EPA.
Solar for All is part of President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which created a $27 billion greenhouse gas reduction fund.
On the campaign trail, DeSantis has pledged to unravel Biden’s green energy agenda if elected president, slamming the Inflation Reduction Act and what he called “a concerted effort to ramp up the fear when it comes to things like global warming and climate change.”
His energy agenda includes ending Biden’s subsidies for electric cars, while pushing policies that he says would ramp up domestic oil production.
“The subsidies are going to drive inflation higher,” DeSantis said at an event in September. “It’s not going to help with interest rates, and it is certainly not going to help with our unsustainable debt levels.”
But Holly Bullard, chief strategy and development officer with the Florida Policy Institute, said Floridians are concerned about climate change and rising utility costs.
“The fact that the Sunshine State is one of only six state governments not to apply for funding is an egregious missed opportunity,” she said.
A state application would have boosted Florida’s chances of getting funding, Soto said. Eleven Florida nonprofits are seeking Solar for All funding, along with Alachua County.
“It could be additional funding if the state had applied. … We are seeing this as part of a trend. A lot of folks have alleged the governor is caring more about the presidential campaign than Florida families,” he said.
Floridians stung by DeSantis veto that cost $346M in energy-saving programs
Earlier this year, DeSantis vetoed seed money needed to set up a $346 million rebate program to help Floridians buy energy-efficient appliances and other energy-saving upgrades for their homes, another Biden initiative.
If Florida doesn’t apply for the funding by August, it will be reallocated to other states, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s guidelines.
DeSantis faced criticism for vetoing another bipartisan bill that supporters said could have saved $277 million over 15 years by adding electric cars to state fleets.
DeSantis’ veto of electric cars bill cost taxpayers $277 million, critics say
The governor’s office hasn’t provided a detailed explanation for the vetoes.
Asked about the energy rebate veto, a DeSantis spokesman said the governor “reviews every bill and appropriation that comes across his desk and uses his authority under the Florida Constitution to veto bills that he believes are bad public policy.”
Florida also was one of four states that declined $3 million grants to create plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, which are needed to draw down additional federal funding, according to the EPA.
DeSantis’ administration has accepted some other sources of environmental funding from the federal government, such as a nearly $3.8 million award to promote tree canopies in cities.
The Biden administration also announced it will fund 16 projects to fight climate change in Florida totaling nearly $79 million. Those funds come from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.
