Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam

• Removing regulatory barriers that prevent the expansion of renewable energy opportunities in the state.
• Reviving the business credits and incentives that expired last year in Florida, that were put in place before the industry was mature enough to take advantage of them.
• Requiring the Public Service Commission to consider fuel diversity when making decisions about new power sources. Investor-owned utilities would be required to set aside 1 percent of their overall generation capacity to renewable investments.

The subcommittee is expected to hold a workshop in the next few weeks to discuss Putnam’s proposals before any legislation is submitted.

Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, declined to comment on individual aspects of Putnam’s proposal, but said he supports the majority of the plan.

“The commissioner and I have spoken about the pieces of all of these. The large majority of it we agree on, but in terms of any slight difference, I won’t get into those,” Plakon said.

“It will be out of this committee in time to get something done before the end of session,” he added. “We’re not going to lose it for time.”

Subcommittee member Rep. Alan Williams, D-Tallahassee, said he wants to “delve into the details” but is encouraged that the Legislature will craft an energy policy for the first time in his four years on the subcommittee.

“The sooner the better will be great,” Williams said. “I hope to move in some direction on some of these policies.”

In December, Putnam noted that Florida needs to be less reliant on natural gas for its energy, especially when the majority of that source of power comes through just two pipelines from the Gulf Coast.

He said the plan should be particularly beneficial for rural counties that are looking for growth without altering their character.

“Usually, rural economic development is parachuting some factor in the middle of nowhere and everybody is happy to have a job and the town is never the same again,” Putnam said. “With these, you’re taking what the community is already good at, which is agricultural production or having open space that allows for algae and solar arrays and all the other things that can go on out there. Now you’re necessarily losing all your kids to the city or another state.”

Putnam’s energy recommendations:

Infrastructure investment:

Proposal 1: Reinstate the following sales tax incentives at the recommended caps and clearly define eligible cost. Reinstatement of these tax incentives will promote the development of renewable energy infrastructure, which would give Florida an advantage over other states when investors are looking to build plants.