Florida Court Blocks Push to Break Electricity Monopolies

florida lineman

MIAMI -

Florida’s top court ruled against a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed customers to pick their electricity provider, threatening monopolies held by NextEra Energy Inc. and Duke Energy Corp.

In a ruling Thursday, the court said the petition’s language is “misleading” and doesn’t comply with requirements to be included on the 2020 ballot. The measure’s sponsor, Citizens for Energy Choice, said the move ends the initiative.

“While we were confident in our plan to gather the remaining signatures required, we cannot overcome this last obstacle,” the group’s chair, Alex Patton, said in a statement.

The proposed measure was one of several efforts underway to deregulate U.S. electricity markets. Earlier this week, two Virginia state lawmakers unveiled a bill to allow residents and businesses to pick their electricity provider, threatening Dominion Energy Inc.’s longstanding local monopoly. And in Arizona, where Arizona Public Service Co. has long reigned, regulators are considering a similar move.

Related News

solar panels

Californians Learning That Solar Panels Don't Work in Blackouts

SAN FRANCISCO - Californians have embraced rooftop solar panels more than anyone in the U.S., but many are learning the hard way the systems won’t keep the lights on during blackouts.

That’s because most panels are designed to supply power to the grid -- not directly to houses. During the heat of the day, solar systems can crank out more juice than a home can handle. Conversely, they don’t produce power at all at night. So systems are tied into the grid, and the vast majority aren’t working this week as PG&E Corp. cuts power to much of Northern California to…

READ MORE
scotland power

Clocks are running slow across Europe because of an argument over who pays the electricity bill

READ MORE

The European Commission

Explainer: Europe gets ready to revamp its electricity market

READ MORE

sunlab electricity

Growing pot sucks up electricity and pumps out an astounding amount of carbon dioxide — it doesn't have to

READ MORE

offshore wind turbines

U.S. Electricity and natural gas prices explained

READ MORE