President Obama, FPL Solar Array, and Me.

This past Tuesday I had the distinguished privilege of riding in President Obama’s motorcade while he paid a visit to Florida Power & Light’s (FPL)Solar Array located in Desoto County.  With such dignitaries as Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, and Carol Browning, Asst. to the President for Energy and Climate Change, and local leaders like Representative Kathy Castor and Rep. Keith Fitzgerald, it was a pretty significant day for me. While I don’t proclaim to have a hand in anything that was involved with the day, the fact that our President was here to promote something that I truly believe is the future of our state leaves me to feel pretty honored to have been included.

With the tumultuous relationship that our state has had with renewable energy, it is significant that we now have the largest solar array in the country located right in the middle of Desoto County.

“The DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center, which uses more than 90,000 PV panels that turn the sun’s rays into electricity to power more than 3,000 homes, is generating significant economic and environmental benefits. At a time when Florida is suffering from the worst economy in a generation, the solar project created 400 well-paying construction jobs. In addition, the DeSoto solar array will avoid 575,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions.” – FPL

In a program that they are calling Energy Smart Florida, FPL pledges and investment of  $378 million along with the federal government funding of $200 million to promote a Smart Grid system for Florida. In anticipation of creating 6000 jobs, the project will promote

“revolutionary new technologies that will help FPL build a more intelligent network that is able to detect potential problems and automatically reconfigure the grid to minimize outages. In addition, smart meters will give customers the ability to see their usage online by the hour, day and month, enabling them to better understand their energy consumption and paving the way for them to make energy efficient, cost-saving choices.” – FPL

The DeSoto plant was constructed ahead of schedule in less than a year and $22 million under budget. The plant will generate more than $2 million in additional property tax revenue for DeSoto County through the end of 2010 and $37 million over the life of the project. RTT News

I could go on and tout all of the wonderful things that are included in the press releases now being sent out, but I don’t need to.  What I do want to call attention to is the underlining message that most of us seem to miss when we debate about the value of renewable energy and it’s place in our state.   Unlike the effort that was easily quashed during the Carter years, this movement is nothing like it’s predecessor.  Companies are taking stock in the innovation that is before us with renewable energy.  There is money to be made and and true capitalist is in tune with this.

FPL has continued to ask for state and federal support throughout this project. They will tell you that without subsidies and regulations that allow them to continue to promote innovation, it just can’t be done. And I am the first one to promote legislation that will help the renewable industry and the people behind it because I think that we need it.

But the truth is there are plenty of good examples of people not waiting for the government to step in and help out.  From municipalities like Gainesville, Florida to small business owners like the Triple J Ranch in Sarasota who invested  $500,000 in solar panels to harness the sun’s energy on their barns, people recognize that the renewable industry is their ticket to a better future.  They are quietly making their mark in solar, wind, bio-fuels, and energy storage systems without hesitation.  These people have realized that the future is in their hands.

Mayor Hanrahan of Gainesville will tell you that “Gainesville has 32 MW of solar feed-in-tariff contracts to purchase energy from rooftop PV systems, and also has a fair amount of net metering. Our prices have come down a fair amount in the last year, because we require open books, and receipts, for those who enter into contracts with us, and we have gone from one solar installer to six in the last year or so. The cheapest thing to do is to retrofit for energy efficiency. This can save at least 30% in energy use by most residential and commercial buildings.”

While we fight over the need for the Cap-n-trade bill or the removal of the off-shore drilling ban, you must know that the smart people are not waiting for the government to lead the way.  Just take a look around and start to note what people are doing not what they are saying.

As for me and my day with our President.  Well, becasue I was a part of the motorcade, I missed his speech. He kept a tight schedule that day and I wasn’t allowed the time to sit and listen.  “You need to stay here because when the President is ready to leave, we don’t want to have to come and look for you,” was the famous last words.  If it wasn’t for my “need to go to the bathroom” I would have missed the opportunity for the pictures I took of the speech.  Don’t ask if the bathroom was located right next to the podium…let’s just say I got lost.

So I listened to his speech like most Americans these days – via the Internet.   The President’s speech