Florida’s Turnpike plazas will be getting fast charging stations, as the state recently introduced its mitigation plan from its share of the Volkswagen Dieselgate settlement.
Florida Representative Holly Raschein has sponsored a new bill in the Florida Legislature to fund a $10 million pilot program installing solar panels and energy storage at strategic public facilities to keep them up and running during critical events and natural disasters.
The program would start on July 1, and run for a single year. The Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) will administer and report on the outcomes, with potential expansion.
State of Florida law states only an approved and regulated electric utility is allowed to sell electricity to the public. The 1988 court case, PW Ventures, Inc. v. Nichols, clarified this position. With Tesla’s SolarCity announcing that they’ll service customers of Duke Energy and the Orlando Utilities Commission in the greater Orlando area, they’ll have to abandon their ‘solar lease’ model in Florida – a state with no solar incentives.
In this model, Tesla owns the solar power system and takes all incentives, then sells the homeowner discounted electricity in a 20-year contract. With a population greater than 20 million people, the third largest state is a ripe opportunity – and maybe a laboratory.
Despite its “Sunshine State” nickname, Florida ranks among the lowest states for solar power deployment thanks to anti-solar regulations backed by local electric utilities. But on election day, the citizens of Florida showed interest in solar energy by rejecting the anti-solar Amendment 1, which according to solar installers, including SolarCity, would have made it easier for utilities to add fees to make solar more expensive for customers.
Following the election, Tesla’s SolarCity is the latest solar installer announcing an expansion in Florida today now that it will become economically viable for a lot more households to install solar arrays on their homes.
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The next step in lighting up the east cost is complete with the east and west side of Florida getting getting superchargers. The new addresses:
2 Supercharger stations in 2 days for Florida! Fort Myers opened today. Travel free between Miami, Tampa & Orlando! pic.twitter.com/Vm9VaSIEz1
— Tesla (@Tesla) July 25, 2013
Oh, and Norway just got put on the map.
One of the first Tesla Supercharger stations in Europe is being built in Cinderella, Norway #KatieWoodencloak
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 28, 2013
