Florida’s Dead Rebate Program Rolling Over in its Grave

Florida’s once-lucrative solar rebates are done. No more. Finito. Due to a cumbersome budget deficit, the state legislature allowed the $4-per-watt rebate for solar power systems to expire on June 30th. It’s sad. Everybody regrets it. Nobody wished for it. But can we not roll with the changes? Can’t the Sunshine State just move along to greener (if not so sunny) pastures?

Well, no, says the IRS. And NO! says a group of Floridians who installed solar systems while the rebate was still alive but are still waiting for their check.

The situation in Florida is rather odd. On the one hand, we have the auditor, the IRS, which in a recent letter slammed the state for misspending Recovery Act dollars on the ailing solar rebate program — to the tune of $8.3 million. On the other are a group of homeowners who were approved for state rebates, paid for their solar systems up-front, and have yet to receive a dime.

According to the NBC2 News in Port Charlotte, the state still owes $40 million in rebate checks to solar homeowners, but has no apparent state financing to pay it. Meanwhile, Florida still has $112 million in federal stimulus funding, but according to the IRS, cannot use it.

To clarify, the IRS is alleging that Florida used the $8 million-plus stimulus dollars to pay for rebates that were approved before the Recovery Act was even passed. The state of Florida says the feds should not be surprised, as they gave the state permission to use the money in that way upon delivery. The IRS says that stimulus funds are intended to create new or save existing green jobs, and paying homeowners rebates for projects that are complete and thus hold no new job prospects in no way conforms to those intentions.

And while Big and Little Brother squabble, $40 million worth of solar systems and their owners are caught in the middle, many roiling in solar-disenfranchisement. You would hope that the solar homeowners in question, who themselves may have gone up to $30,000 or more into debt to finance their systems, will eventually be paid what their state promised. The question is when? Monthly energy savings are great, and I imagine most are happily enjoying significantly lower utility bills, but a decent return on investment for home solar power is still largely dependent upon rebates and incentives.

While it may not help the rebate-hungry homeowners, perhaps Florida could use some of that $112 million in stimulus funds, which it must spend by April 2012, to launch a new rebate program that would create new jobs and advance solar power in one of America’s sunniest states. It certainly would not purport to be as lucrative as its predecessor, but anything is better than nothing (solar costs are dropping anyhow), and Florida solar installers are already contemplating moves to more solar-friendly, less IRS-ire-inducing states like Georgia and South Carolina.

Source: NBC-2.com
Photo Credit: Florida.uk

Posted on July 7th in Solar News by Dan.