yego.me
💡 Stop wasting time. Read Youtube instead of watch. Download Chrome Extension

No Solar in the Sunshine State | Years of Living Dangerously


2m read
·Nov 11, 2024

Here in Florida, people are only allowed to buy their power from utilities, not from independent solar companies. I'm super excited that we're all here! This is about choice—consumers having the right to choose solar power without your name. I see that there are people here fighting to change that. We're trying to get on the ballot next November. Thank you so much!

I set up a meeting with Alisa Gene Schaefer, a young activist from Floridians for Solar Choice. Maybe she can explain to me what's happening.

So you guys, as this coalition, you're collecting signatures on a pro-solar ballot initiative, and the energy companies—how's the response been? Have they started going after you?

Yes! I was actually at a solar conference, and all of a sudden, you know, my phone started blowing up. It was like, "What's going on?" The power companies, a whole group of them, had posted a link on Twitter basically announcing at this press conference that, well, we're gonna do a ballot initiative too!

And it was—they took part of our name and they called themselves Consumers for Smart Solar. So basically, the whole point of that is to confuse people. The utility-backed initiative talks about solar choice but doesn't actually give people any choices.

So just to be super clear, you guys started a pro-solar petition, and the energy companies created an anti-solar petition that looks like a pro-solar petition?

Exactly! And its sole purpose is to trick people! Yes, I have just been looking at the side-by-side— which one would you sign? The green one sponsored by the utilities looks pro-solar but actually does nothing to open up the market to solar companies like SunRun; it would keep everything the same.

Could this actually be fooling people? I asked Alyssa to take me canvassing for some signatures so I could see for myself.

We're gonna show you two ballot initiatives. So which one would you sign if you wanted to see more solar in Florida? I've seen the green one.

Do you know who's behind this?

I have the energy companies, are they?

Yeah! They don't want more solar, so they created this to trick people, and then they're paying people to talk to you like outside of buildings.

It's happening. I saw you standing there looking at it—it sounds something positive, so I'll just do it.

Did you?

Yeah, that's so crazy! It's eye-opening! Even a Florida Supreme Court justice wrote that the utility-backed petition was masquerading as pro-solar. I tried numerous times to reach Florida Power and Light, but they declined to speak to me.

More Articles

View All
Glee! Hot Dogs! IMG! 9
This is where astronauts go to get a drink. Get it? And catch that hot dog! It’s episode 9 of [Music]. Do you like girls but also like Legos? Well, you’re in luck! Last week, damage.com showed me Lego sculptures for [Music] adults, and BuzzFeed collected…
Gathering Greens | Life Below Zero
You ready, bun? I got to flip over my shoes so they don’t get rained on. The hailstones spend their summer along the Koic River, where they only have a brief window to gather resources before the freeze returns. For Chip and Agnes, teaching their daughter…
The Worst Year to Be Alive
2020 was probably one of the worst years that most of us have ever experienced. China has identified the cause of the mysterious new virus, Corona virus covid-19. A pandemic took the lives of millions, forced us to stay isolated indoors for months, shut d…
Justification with the mean value theorem: table | AP Calculus AB | Khan Academy
The table gives selected values of the differentiable function f. All right, can we use a mean value theorem to say that there is a value c such that f prime of c is equal to 5 and c is between 4 and 6? If so, write a justification. Well, to use the mean…
Cybersecurity and crime | Internet 101 | Computer Science | Khan Academy
[Music] Hi, my name is Jenny Martin and I’m the director of cyber security investigations at Semantic. Today, cyber crime causes huge problems for society, personally, financially, and even in matters of national security. Just in the last few years, hun…
THIS IS A BUTTERFLY! (Scanning Electron Microscope) - Part 2 - Smarter Every Day 105
[music] Hey, it’s me Destin. Welcome back to Smarter Every Day. I am crossing the street in Atlanta, Georgia. You can see the dome in the background, and I’m at Georgia State University, and I’ve got a box of butterfly wings. I’m trying to unravel a myste…