Don’t overload solar users
Orlando’s 100% renewable energy goal by 2050 is in jeopardy. As chair of the Orange County League of Women Voters’ Clean Energy Caucus, I urge the Orlando Public Utilities Commission to protect our future by maintaining its current policy on net metering for customer-owned solar systems and recognize other concerns. from the proposed plan.
OUC should review the new rates it offers for residential customers and introduce fair policies for all.
Net metering is important for both individual consumers and community sustainability. Solar customers feed excess electricity into the grid, which improves energy reliability and helps offset the costs of building new transmission lines.
OUC’s proposed time-of-use rate would unfairly burden residents who cannot easily shift their energy use to off-peak hours. Consumers vulnerable to high energy costs include working families, low-income families, and 24-hour operations such as nursing homes and hospitals.
The OUC should promote tariffs that encourage energy conservation without undue financial strain.
In addition, the proposed new demand payment poses a problem. These charges penalize users who exceed the power consumption limit in any 15-minute increment by dropping them into a more expensive category for the next 12 months. Since most residential customers do not have the knowledge to avoid high charges, few electric utilities use demand charges with residential customers.
We urge the commission to listen to community members and stakeholders. To meet our renewable energy goals, we need to continue policies that promote solar adoption and fair practices.
Mary Dipboye Winter park
Florida is not a free state
Once again, Ron DeSantis is using taxpayer money for false advertising. “Free State of Florida” signs now welcome drivers to the Sunshine State. It is not a free state when books are banned, history/climate change is whitewashed, districts are annexed, politicians are for politics rather than the people, the homeless and immigrants are demonized, white children are blasphemed, rents are out of control, and conspiracies abound. , incompetent puppets are employed, science/critical thinking is obsolete, authoritarian ideology is embraced over democracy, and guns are more important than life itself. No, this is not a free state, but a state of desolate and hateful people.
Katie Sanchez Orlando
The debate about climate change continues
Some points in the climate debate have been disputed: It’s a hoax. False news! The evidence is inconclusive. The models are faulty. Climate is cyclical. Earth’s climate has always changed. It has just snowed (in the city). This time it’s bad, but it has nothing to do with people. Well, people play a role. Well, it’s mostly our fault, but it’s too late/expensive to fix. Scientists will find something. We don’t have to do anything because God will take care of it.
Florida’s latest move on textbooks sounds like a bad parody of a Disney movie: “We’re not talking about climate. No, no, no!” Less than 400 years ago, people were imprisoned for claiming that the Earth revolved around the Sun. I hope that students will learn about our era in 400 years.
Jack Crimmins DeBary