Coalition seeks energy-choice amendment

Florida Energy Freedom, a coalition pushing to deregulate Florida’s electricity market, wants Floridians to have the right to choose their retail electricity provider, and says such a change could save consumers up to $5 billion a year.

The coalition led by Rich Blaser, founder of Gainesville-based Florida Energy Freedom, is seizing an opportunity that comes around once every 20 years, the convening of the Florida Constitution Revision Commission.

The commission is reviewing Proposal 51, which would amend the state’s constitution to make it a right for the state’s electricity customers to choose their provider. The “electric choice” proposal is slated to come before a committee of the commission Friday.

If the committee and later the full commission approve the proposal, the amendment would be placed on the November ballot in the general election. It would require 60 percent approval from voters to be adopted, and if approved, would take effect in 2021.

Blaser said Tuesday that the utilities own the infrastructure and would still deliver electricity, do repairs and respond to outages as they have always done.

However, residential and commercial electricity users would pick an energy supplier for the energy itself, Blaser said. Consumers could lock in a fixed rate and could choose renewable energy, such as solar, for all their usage.

Currently, Florida customers can only buy electricity from utilities. Florida Power & Light officials

did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the proposal Tuesday.

“In other states’ experience, giving consumers energy choice has led to efficiency, jobs and innovation,” Blaser said.

Texas opened its energy market more than 10 years ago, and since 2010, has saved about $5 billion a year, Blaser said. The change has also resulted in the creation of more than 100,000 jobs, annual sales revenues of $761 billion and $338 million in resources to local governments.

Florida is the only one of the nation’s seven largest states where no one is free to shop for an electricity provider.

Chris Hendrix, director of markets and compliance, Walmart, a coalition member, said the company estimates a competitive energy market would save the retailer an estimated $15 million a year on energy costs in Florida.

“From 2007 to 2016, our costs in competitive electricity markets decreased by about 7 percent on average,” Hendrix said. “These savings would not only lower costs for stores, but for consumers as well.”

Ray Perryman, president and CEO of the Waco-based Perryman Group, said that if a competitive market had existed in Florida in 2016, annual savings would have been up to $6 billion.

“Some opponents of this proposal would lead consumers to believe that residential customers do not benefit from electricity choice. However, the exact opposite is true,” Perryman said. “Residential customers in particular would benefit from this initiative.”

Jim Presswood of the Arlington, Va.-based Earth Stewardship Alliance said that consumer freedom in Florida’s electricity market would reduce energy bills, enhance customer value and benefit the environment because consumers would have access to more clean energy services providers.

The Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association, a founding member of the coalition, is among other supporters of the initiative and asserts that electricity choice would be good for Florida’s tourism industry and would attract new business.

The Florida Retail Federation, Red Lobster and The Florida Solar Energy Industries Association are among the coalition’s 28 members.