Florida Public Service Commission Decision Maintains Status Quo on Efficiency

Decision misses key opportunity to put Florida on a path to lower power bills

Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, the Florida Public Service Commission decided in a split 3-2 vote not to adopt revisions to its energy efficiency goal setting rule proposed by the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and other non-utility stakeholders. The proposed revisions would have laid the foundation for greater energy savings from utility energy efficiency programs and put Florida on a path to lower power bills. Instead, the Commission adopted revisions by its staff that do not directly address the roadblocks to getting meaningful programs out to customers that would cut energy waste and lower bills.

The decision caps a two-plus year rulemaking where local governments, businesses, community groups, clean energy organizations, faith leaders, and thousands of customers advocated for meaningful change to the Commission’s practices in setting energy efficiency goals to address historic high power bills. Florida is one of the lowest performing states in the Southeast and in the country in capturing energy savings for customers through utility energy efficiency programs. The adopted rule now establishes the framework for next year’s energy efficiency goals setting proceeding.

George Cavros, Florida Director and Energy Policy Attorney for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, provided the following statement: “The Commission missed a key opportunity to put the state on a path to lower power bills. We appreciate several commissioners’ interest in adopting revisions that would have led to more energy savings for hard-working families. We’ll continue to fight for meaningful energy efficiency goals and customer programs in next year’s goal setting proceeding.”