In re Advisory Op. to the Attorney Gen. re Limits or Prevents Barriers to Local Solar Elec. Supply, s. SC15–780

• Decision Date: 22 October 2015
• Docket Number: SC15–890.,Nos. SC15–780,s. SC15–780
• Citation: 177 So.3d 235
• Parties: ADVISORY OPINION TO the ATTORNEY GENERAL re LIMITS OR PREVENTS BARRIERS TO LOCAL SOLAR ELECTRICITY SUPPLY. Advisory Opinion to the Attorney General re Limits or Prevents Barriers To Local Solar Electricity Supply (Financial Impact Statement).
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

177 So.3d 235

ADVISORY OPINION TO the ATTORNEY GENERAL re LIMITS OR PREVENTS BARRIERS TO LOCAL SOLAR ELECTRICITY SUPPLY.

Advisory Opinion to the Attorney General re Limits or Prevents Barriers To Local Solar Electricity Supply (Financial Impact Statement).

Nos. SC15–780

SC15–890.

Supreme Court of Florida.

Oct. 22, 2015.

Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Alfred Lagran Saunders, Assistant Attorney General, Allen C. Winsor, Solicitor General, and Rachel Erin Nordby, Deputy Solicitor General, Tallahassee, FL, for Petitioner.

Robert Lowry Nabors, Gregory Thomas Stewart, and William Clark Garner of Nabors, Giblin & Nickerson, P.A., Tallahassee, FL, for Floridians for Solar Choice, Inc., Sponsor.

Stephen H. Grimes and David Bruce May, Jr. of Holland & Knight LLP, Tallahassee, FL, and William Bartow Willingham and Michelle Lynn Hershel, Tallahassee, FL, on behalf of Florida Electric Cooperatives Association, Inc.; Raoul G. Cantero, III and Thomas Neal McAliley of White & Case LLP, Miami, FL, on behalf of Florida Chamber of Commerce; Linda Loomis Shelley of Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney, PC, Tallahassee, FL, and Harry Morrison, Jr., Tallahassee, FL, and Dan R. Stengle of Dan R. Stengle, Attorney, LLC, Tallahassee, FL, and Jody Lamar Finklea and Amanda L. Swindle, Tallahassee, FL, on behalf of Florida League of Cities, Inc. and Florida Municipal Electric Association, Inc.; Craig Edward Leen, City Attorney, Coral Gables, FL, on behalf of the City of Coral Gables; Floyd Robert Self of Berger Singerman LLP, Tallahassee, FL, and Javier Luis Vazquez of Berger Singerman LLP, Miami, FL, on behalf of the City of Coral Gables and Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Martin Stephen Turner of Broad and Cassel, Tallahassee, FL, on behalf of Florida Chapter of the National Congress of Black Women, Inc.; William Christopher Browder, Vice President and General Counsel, and Terrie Louise Tressler, Deputy General Counsel, Orlando, FL, on behalf of Orlando Utilities Commission; Susan Leslie Forbes Clark and Donna Elizabeth Blanton of the Radey Law Firm, Tallahassee, FL, on behalf of National Black Chamber of Commerce; Major Best Harding and James Dawson Beasley of Ausley & McMullen, Tallahassee, FL, on behalf of Tampa Electric Company; Jeffrey Alan Stone and Terrie Springer Didier of Beggs & Lane, R.L.L.P., Pensacola, FL; John Todd Burnett, Deputy General Counsel, Saint Petersburg, FL, on behalf of Duke Energy Florida; Kenneth Bradley Bell of Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart, P.A., Tallahassee, FL, on behalf of Gulf Power Company; Barry Scott Richard of Greenberg Traurig, P.A., Tallahassee, FL, and Alvin Bruce Davis of Squire Patton Boggs, Miami, FL, on behalf of Florida Power and Light Company; and Carlos Genaro Muñiz of McGuireWoods LLP, Tallahassee, FL, on behalf of Florida Council for Safe Communities, as Opponents.

PER CURIAM.

The Attorney General of Florida has petitioned this Court for an advisory opinion as to the validity of a citizen initiative amendment to the Florida Constitution, titled "Limits or Prevents Barriers to Local Solar Electricity Supply," and the corresponding Financial Impact Statement submitted by the Financial Impact Estimating Conference. The constitutional amendment is being proposed by Floridians for Solar Choice, Inc. (the "Sponsor"), pursuant to article XI, section 3, of the Florida Constitution. We have jurisdiction. See art. IV, § 10, art. V, § 3(b)(10), Fla. Const.

This Court's review of the amendment is limited to two issues. First, we must determine if the proposed amendment meets the requirements of article XI, section 3, Florida Constitution, which provides that "any such revision or amendment, except for those limiting the power of government to raise revenue, shall embrace but one subject and matter directly connected therewith." Second, we must determine if the ballot title and summary satisfy the requirements of section 101.161(1), Florida Statutes (2014). That statute provides that when a constitutional amendment is submitted to the vote of the people, "a ballot summary of such amendment ... shall be printed in clear and unambiguous language on the ballot." § 101.161(1), Fla. Stat. Section 101.161(1) also mandates that the ballot summary of the amendment "shall be an explanatory statement, not exceeding 75 words in length, of the chief purpose of the measure." § 101.161(1), Fla. Stat. The ballot shall also include a separate Financial Impact Statement concerning the measure prepared by the Financial Impact Estimating Conference according to the requirements of section 100.371(5), Florida Statutes (2014). See § 101.161(1), Fla. Stat.; § 100.371(5), Fla. Stat.

As we explain, we conclude that that proposed amendment embraces a single subject and matter directly connected therewith, and that the ballot summary explaining the chief purpose of the measure is not clearly and conclusively defective. We also conclude that the accompanying Financial Impact Statement complies with section 100.371(5), Florida Statutes. Accordingly, we approve the proposed amendment and Financial Impact Statement for placement on the ballot so long as the remaining requirements of article XI, section 3, of the Florida Constitution, are met.¹

I. BACKGROUND

On April 24, 2015, the Attorney General petitioned this Court for an opinion as to the validity of an initiative petition sponsored by Floridians for Solar Choice, Inc., pursuant to article XI, section 3, of the Florida Constitution. The sponsor submitted a brief supporting the validity of the initiative petition. The Attorney General submitted a brief in opposition, as did the Florida Chapter of the National Congress of Black Women, Inc.; the Orlando Utilities Commission; the National Black Chamber of Commerce; the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; the Florida Chamber of Commerce; the Florida Electric Cooperatives Association, Inc.; Florida Power & Light Company, Duke Energy Florida, Gulf Power Company, and Tampa Electric Company; the City of Coral Gables; the Florida Council for Safe Communities; and the Florida League of Cities, Inc., and Florida Municipal Electric Association, Inc.

The amendment proposed by Floridians for Solar Choice, Inc., would add the following new section 29 to article X of the Florida Constitution:

ARTICLE X, SECTION 29. Purchase and sale of solar electricity.—

(a) PURPOSE AND INTENT. It shall be the policy of the state to encourage and promote local small-scale solar-generated electricity production and to enhance the availability of solar power to customers. This section is intended to accomplish this purpose by limiting and preventing regulatory and economic barriers that discourage the supply of electricity generated from solar energy sources to customers who consume the electricity at the same or a contiguous property as the site of the solar electricity production. Regulatory and economic barriers include rate, service and territory regulations imposed by state or local government on those supplying such local solar electricity, and imposition by electric utilities of special rates, fees, charges, tariffs, or terms and conditions of service on their customers consuming local solar electricity supplied by a third party that are not imposed on their other customers of the same type or class who do not consume local solar electricity.

(b) PURCHASE AND SALE OF LOCAL SMALL–SCALE SOLAR ELECTRICITY.

(1) A local solar electricity supplier, as defined in this section, shall not be subject to state or local government regulation with respect to rates, service, or territory, or be subject to any assignment, reservation, or division of service territory between or among electric utilities.

(2) No electric utility shall impair any customer's purchase or consumption of solar electricity from a local solar electricity supplier through any special rate, charge, tariff, classification, term or condition of service, or utility rule or regulation, that is not also imposed on other customers of the same type or class that do not consume electricity from a local solar electricity supplier.

(3) An electric utility shall not be relieved of its obligation under law to furnish service to any customer within its service territory on the basis that such customer also purchases electricity from a local solar electricity supplier.

(4) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), nothing in this section shall prohibit reasonable health, safety and welfare regulations, including, but not limited to, building codes, electrical codes, safety codes and pollution control regulations, which do not prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting the supply of solar-generated electricity by a local solar electricity supplier as defined in this section.

(c) DEFINITIONS. For the purposes of this section:

(1) "local solar electricity supplier" means any person who supplies electricity generated from a solar electricity generating facility with a maximum rated capacity of no more than 2 megawatts, that converts energy from the sun into thermal or electrical energy, to any other person located on the same property, or on separately owned but contiguous property, where the solar energy generating facility is located.

(2) "person" means any individual, firm, association, joint venture, partnership, estate, trust, business trust, syndicate, fiduciary, corporation, government entity, and any other group or combination.

(3) "electric utility" means every person, corporation, partnership, association, governmental entity, and their lessees, trustees, or receivers, other than a local solar electricity supplier, supplying electricity to ultimate consumers of electricity within this state.

(4) "local government" means any county, municipality, special district, authority, or any other subdivision of the state.

(d) ENFORCEMENT AND EFFECTIVE DATE. This amendment shall be effective on January 3, 2017.

The ballot title for the proposed amendment, which is limited by law to fifteen words, is stated as "Limits or Prevents...