Rep Adam Hasner's ScapeGoat for Solar

A woman recently wrote to Majority Leader Adam Hasner about the rumors she had heard that Mr. Hasner did not support paying those on the solar rebate waiting list because he thought that only rich people installed solar. She showed me his reply to her letter, penned quickly to quell any rumors about this as just "plain silly" but what alarmed me in his response was the outrageous blatant untruth he cited, where he claimed "From your letter it appears that your daughter was sold a solar system during a time in which no money had been placed in the rebate program for two years. The installer should have known that this was the case and should have informed her of the likelihood that no rebate would be available." I do not understand how our Majority Leader in the Florida House of Representatives would make such an untruthful, unsubstantiated obvious falsehood. In fact, there was $14.4 million from ARRA funding reprogrammed into the solar rebate program. Where does he get off stating otherwise? My cause for concern is that I feel that Mr. Hasner may be setting up the solar contractors to be the scapegoat for the state, to take the fall for the state's mismanaged solar rebate program. From his letter he appears to be posturing for the blame that will go down when the state is unable to pay those on the waiting list.

The responsibility to tell the citizens of Florida how much money remained in the system was the responsibility of the FECC. The solar contractors relied on the same information as individuals applying for rebates. This information was located on the FECC rebate website. The FECC had a responsibility to update this information and they failed to do so. Up until the end of October 2009, the rebate website continued to say that there was funding available and specified the dollar amounts remaining. Therefore, anyone who installed and applied for a rebate through the end of October was doing so under the direction from the FECC that there was money in the program.

It was not until late December 2009 that the FECC first mentioned to the public that funding ran out in June 2009.

Given that there are 8,000 disenfranchised individuals in Florida currently waiting to see if the legislature will pay them their rebates we know that it is going to be a dicey situation for everyone this year, but as our elected representatives, Mr. Hasner should have the responsibility to impart correct information to the voters, and not try to plant the seed that the solar contractors misrepresented the facts. Rep Hasner is clearly MISREPRESENTING the facts.

The FECC should have (but did not) post on a daily basis how much money had been applied for. This would have given the installers and the homeowners a benchmark as to what remained in the system. The FECC maintains a running database in excel that they use internally to see how much money has been applied for. I do not understand why they failed to pass this information along to the public.

We need to make our voices heard. We need to get everyone to take the time to phone and write their legislators and tell them to support a public benefits fund. This will be the only way that the solar industry will be able to continue in Florida. Right now it appears that the Florida legislature is about to nail the coffin shut on solar in Florida, so make your voice heard during these last two weeks. Please call your legislators and tell them that you want them to support a public benefits fund, and that in this election year, this will be one of the sole criteria for who you decide to vote for.