Florida is now a solar superpower. Here’s how it happened.
grist.org
The Sunshine State built more large-scale solar than California last year and was again No. 2 for residential, despite state leadership opposed to climate action.

Summary

Florida has emerged as a national solar leader, surpassing California in large-scale solar capacity in 2024 and ranking second in residential solar since 2019.

Despite state leadership opposing climate action, favorable policies and abundant sunshine have driven growth.

The Inflation Reduction Act’s tax credits and streamlined permitting for small solar projects have made solar more accessible and affordable.

Utilities like Florida Power & Light have capitalized on easy permitting, while grassroots support remains strong, with 84% of voters backing net metering to lower costs.

    • kava
      61·
      8 days ago

      That’s true although it’s quite impressive regardless.

      First, the Florida state government is actively hostile to solar. Just a couple years back they passed a law that made it so you couldn’t sell your excess power back to the grid- a huge benefit of installing solar.

      This was at the request of FPL (Florida Power & Light) because just like in the federal government, the Florida government is essentially bought and paid for.

      So I don’t know the specifics in CA, but I’d imagine their government is more friendly to renewable energy.

      And we also need to consider CA has a little less than double Florida’s population and a little more than double Florida’s GDP.

      So the fact that Florida surpassed California’s solar usage is actually quite impressive, especially considering CA had a significant head start.

      It’s really a testament to how useful this technology is. Solar is not growing in Florida because it’s renewable or has lower carbon emissions, etc. It’s growing because it’s economically feasible.

      And I think it’s a good sign for the future of renewable energy. Also goes to show Florida is rapidly growing. Few years back we surpassed NY as the 3rd largest state (in terms of population).

      Right now Texas & Florida (and certain states in the SE like S or N Carolina) are the fastest growing states. Meanwhile states like New York, California, and Illinois are stagnating.

      In the next couple decades, Florida and Texas will eventually surpass NY and CA as the two most important states. And I predict they will both turn blue just like what happened to California.