Chambers for Innovation 7/7/23 Chambers for Innovation 7/7/23

Florida Power Line: Volume 2 July 2023

Take a look at recent Florida legislation and news.

Chambers in the News

Florida Chambers of Commerce are Leading their Communities in Resiliency & Sustainability Efforts

In one of the country’s most vulnerable areas, the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce is leading its community in this endeavor, recently organizing a trip to Lee County to learn from the chambers and cities still recovering from the devastation caused by Hurricane Ian.

Sunbridge project shows importance of thinking solar | Lake Nona Regional Chamber Op-Ed

The 27,000-acre development will feature 23,000 single-family homes and 13,000 multifamily residences, and every house built will incorporate solar energy.

Policy

Recap of the 2023 Florida Legislative Session

Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy and Lake Area Economic Development (LEAD) co-hosted an update summarizing the clean energy, resilience, and sustainability outcomes from the recent Florida Legislative Session. The recap featured State Senator Jason Brodeur, chair, Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government.

Tampa becomes the latest Florida city to unveil a climate action plan

Approximately two years in the making, Tampa officials on Friday unveiled a 156-page "Climate Action and Equity Plan, becoming the latest local government in Florida to lay out a path to transition to renewable energy and increase the city's resilience to the effects of climate change.

Senate Bill 284

The aim of Senate Bill 284 was to update the metric by which Florida governmental agencies measure vehicle operational costs and make purchase decisions. Today this cost is measured in miles per gallon. With the advent of hydrogen and electricity as vehicle fuel sources (along with gasoline), the goal was to switch to a metric for total cost of ownership. Senate Bill 284 was passed, but for one vote, unanimously by the legislature and subsequently vetoed by Governor DeSantis on 28 June. The Governor did not provide comment on why he chose to veto the bill, but stay tuned as it will possibly be back again next session. Click here to learn more about the issues and veto.

Inflation Reduction Act in Action

Good Jobs, Great Cities

City leaders are presented with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest in their communities thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic federal investments in infrastructure, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

How Federal Clean Energy Tax Credits Benefit Florida

Federal clean energy tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) are transforming the United States economy, already generating nearly $250 billion in project announcements that could create more than 140,000 new jobs. Prior modeling by Energy Innovation Policy & Technology LLC® showed IRA tax credits are projected to unleash billions in investment by 2030, increasing GDP up to $200 billion and creating up to 1.3 million jobs nationally.

For More Information

Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy is happy to provide further information and education for your membership on the above policy or any of the other energy related news. For follow up, contact anne@chambersforinnovation.com.

Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy

chambersforinnovation.com

Chambers for Innovation 3/30/23 Chambers for Innovation 3/30/23

Florida Power Line: Volume 1 March 2023

Take a look at recent Florida legislation and news.

In the News

Sanibel / Captiva Chamber of Commerce leading the way with the community on clean energy
Orlando Economic Partnership and CMG Clean Tech - clean tech jobs coming soon
Sarasota-based financial services company Cumberland Advisors OpEd on environmental, social, and governance metrics
Tampa Bay’s Resiliency Plans - Sean Sullivan, executive director of the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, outlines plans for the area
Innovation Center supports clean energy innovation in the Tampa Bay area
In Central Florida, the Wendy’s Frosty is solar powered!

Introduced Legislation

The 2023 Florida legislative session is underway and Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy is tracking several clean energy related bills.

There are many headlines about partisan issues in Tallahassee. We are here to help you understand clean energy issues and, in particular, several bills with bipartisan support that we consider good for the economy. These represent fiscally-sound legislation and ones that also help Florida utilize clean energy.

Here are a few of the more important clean energy-related bills we currently see:

Measuring total cost of ownership for state owned vehicles - SB 284/HB 1025

These bills give greater flexibility to governmental agencies to consider multiple types of vehicles in addition to traditional gasoline-fueled vehicles.

Currently, state governments must take into account fuel efficiency when calculating cost of ownership and buying vehicles. For example, gasoline fuel efficiency is not the same metric used to assess total cost of ownership for an electric vehicle. Thanks to this bill, that metric is remedied to enable ‘apples to apples’ cost comparison.

Status: It has passed two Senate committees with bipartisan and unanimous support.

Solar Power on Schools - HB195/SB178

These bills could help local school districts become more resilient by adding solar to the schools. HB195/SB178 eliminates restrictions on spending capital dollars on this effort. By adding solar panels to schools, not only do they become better emergency shelters, but this also frees up operational dollars for classroom instruction.

Status: This bill has passed one committee with unanimous bipartisan support.

Providing competitive EV infrastructure - HB1591/SB1176

HB1591/SB1176 bills relate to electric vehicle charging infrastructure. They require the Public Service Commission to adopt rules to maintain a competitive market for electric vehicle charging stations which meet certain requirements and provide a timeline for the proposal and adoption of such rules. They also prohibit a public utility from using rate base investment for certain purposes.

Status: This legislation has not received a committee hearing as of yet.

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Metrics and Reporting - SB302/ HB3

SB302/HB3 focus on banking regulations, bond issuance, and investing where ESG and/or social credit metrics are applied. These bills are a priority for Governor Ron DeSantis and House Speaker Paul Renner. How does this relate to clean energy?

Viewing the bills through a strictly economic lens, the question is whether reporting on things such as resilience preparedness, energy security, or hurricane propensity, should be used as a way to assess risk in a financial transaction. That transaction may involve anything from consumer or pension fund investments to governments borrowing money via bond issues. The common thread is risk/return assessment. Risk assessment is part of the capital markets system and for this reason, CICE supports improvements to metrics to accurately reflect risk over a multi-year horizon.

Status: Passed its final committee March 14 - on the House floor calendar.

For More Information

Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy is happy to provide further information and education for your membership on the above bills or any of the other energy related bills. For follow up, contact anne@chambersforinnovation.com.

Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy

chambersforinnovation.com