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Government Deadlines Floridian Solar Power Users Must Know

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The recent changes to the solar industry in Florida have turned the Sunshine State a bit cloudy lately. Net metering, highly regarded as one of the best financial incentives when owning a solar system, was hanging in the balance under a new piece of legislation, HB 741. Solar Bear Tampa shares what Floridian solar power users should know about possible government deadlines for bills like these.

Net metering programs allow Floridian solar power users to lower or eliminate their utility bills. With this program, if your rooftop solar panels produce more electricity than needed, any excess would be sent through the meter and into the utility electrical grid. As it flows into the meter, you earn credit for each kilowatt (kW) of energy produced on a future utility bill. Currently, Tampa Electric Company (TECO), Duke Energy, and Florida Power & Light (FPL) offer utility net metering programs in Florida. However, if HB 741 or a similar bill was passed, that could all change.

As it’s written, HB 741 was set to have a huge impact on potential solar customers. Current solar customers would not be directly impacted by the bill immediately but if you were interested in adding a new solar system, it would be best to act quickly. HB 741 was scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2022, with all current solar businesses and residences grandfathered in for twenty years. Those that are interested in installing solar would have to do so by 2024 before utility companies replaced credits with fixed-rate charges. As part of these possible changes, the following time frames explain the elimination process for billing credits.

  • January 1, 2024-December 31, 2025 credits will be reduced to 75% of their current value
  • January 1, 2026-December 31, 2026 credits reduced to 60% of their current value
  • January 1, 2027-December 31, 2028 credits reduced to 50% of their current value
  • Beginning January 1, 2029, all billing credits will be eliminated. Solar customers will pay the full cost of all services and will not be cross-subsidized.

Though the bill was passed in both houses, HB 741 was vetoed by Governor DeSantis on April 27, 2022. This iteration of the bill has been halted but that’s not to say it could not return in a different form next session. Stay up to date on solar initiatives with Solar Bear Tampa by scheduling your free estimate today.