Consumers for Smart Solar

Consumers for Smart Solar is a utility front group designed to confuse voters, advance pro fossil fuel policies, and protect monopolistic utilities. Consumers for Smart Solar is also backed by out-of-state groups funded by the Koch brothers like 60 Plus Association.

Leaked Audio Shows How Consumers for Smart Solar Deceived Public Over 2016 Florida's Amendment 1

Leaked audio offers new evidence that Florida utilities and their allies have sought to deceive the public into believing that the utility-funded Amendment 1 ballot initiative is pro-solar.

Two energy industry watchdog organizations, the Center for Media and Democracy (publisher of Sourcewatch) and the Energy and Policy Institute, obtained the audio recording, which captures a James Madison Institute (JMI), a Florida-based think tank and member of the national State Policy Network (SPN), staff person boasting that it and other Amendment 1 backers successfully misled the public into believing Amendment 1 is pro-solar. You can access the article and audio tapes on the Sourcewatch sister site: ExposedbyCMD.org.

The controversy was covered in a series of articles in the Miami Herald here and here.

Funding and Ties to the Koch Brothers

Funding information for Consumers for Smart Solar is taken from monthly disclosure filings with the Florida Department of State Division of Elections. These numbers are taken from the monthly disclosure statements from July 2015 to October 2015.

An analysis of campaign finance data reviewed by the Center for Media and Democracy and the Energy and Policy Institute revealed Consumers for Smart Solar received more than $1,916,000 from outside groups, including some that have ties to the Koch brothers, and $1,863,715 from Florida utilities.

Electric Utility Companies Funding to Consumers for Smart Solar:

• Duke Energy – $355,000
• Florida Power and Light Company – $595,000
• Gulf Power Company – $380,000
• Tampa Electric Company – $556,000
• Powersouth Energy Cooperative – $30,000

Outside Group Funding to Consumers for Smart Solar:

• National Black Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) – $100,000
  • NBCC President and CEO Harry Alford wrote in an op-ed in the New Pittsburgh Courier that he was recently asked if the NBCC receives money from fossil fuel companies, he wrote, "That is a 'no brainer.' Of course we do – it is only natural." Alford has testified before the U.S. Congress at least 16 times, claiming that solar power and alternative energy initiatives have a disproportionately negative economic impact on minority business owners. The U.S. Black Chambers describes this claim as misleading.
  • Since 1998, ExxonMobil has given $800,000 to NBCC. Since 2011, Edison Electric Institute, the utility industry trade association, has given $25,000 to NBCC. Sponsors from NBCC's 2015 Annual Meeting included Southern Company's Gulf Power, Koch Industries, Koch Industries subsidiary Georgia-Pacific, Chevron, and the American Chemistry Council. According to tax filings, President Harry C. Alford and his wife are the only key employees in the organization.
  • NBCC's funding is not transparent.
• 60 Plus Association – $500,000
  • Since 2010, the 60 Plus Association has received at least $34 million from organizations financially backed by the Koch brothers, including at least $15.7 million from Freedom Partners. The 60 Plus Association has also received at least $258,000 from the American Petroleum Institute since 2008. In 2013, Arizona's largest utility, APS, secretly funded the 60 Plus Association, who then ran ads opposing home solar. This funding was exposed by the Arizona Republic.
  • The 60 Plus Association's funding is not transparent.
• Energy and Social Justice Project – $15,000
• Energy Equity Alliance – $1,000
  • Both Energy and Social Justice Project and Energy Equity Alliance are connected to Net Communications, a public relations firm run by Julia Johnson, a former Public Service Commissioner who was paid nearly $400,000 in 2014 to serve on the boards of two major utility companies. Net Communications has been retained for public relations campaigns by the utility industry and worked for ExxonMobil. The Energy and Social Justice Project's website was registered by David Honig, who was the Executive Director of the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, and is also a founder of Energy Equity Alliance. Joe Gibbons, the Chairman of Energy Equity Alliance, makes around $60,000 a year as a "public policy advisor" for Akerman LLP, a Miami-based power-broker law firm. Previous Akerman clients include Florida utilities, including the local powerhouse Florida Power & Light.
  • Funding for these organizations is not transparent.
• Partnership for Affordable Clean Energy (PACE) – $126,000
  • PACE is directly linked to Matrix, LLC, an opposition and lobbying firm that provides political consulting. Matrix paid PACE Director Lance Brown's salary in 2009 and 2010, while he was also employed by PACE. PACE is further funded by dark money groups such as Partnership for Alabama Leadership (PAL) and Vote Alabama. These two groups are connected to Southern Company's Alabama Power through Matrix, LLC. Mike Fields, the head of PAL, is on retainer has a consultant to Alabama Power.
  • PACE's funding is not transparent.
• Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce – $50,000
  • Trustees of the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce include Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC, a joint-venture of Spectra Energy Partners, NextEra Energy, Inc., and Duke Energy. The Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is also a member of DC-based, ]]National Association of Manufacturers]]-based Partnership for a Better Energy Future. Southern Company, the Georgia-based parent company of Gulf Power, is represented on their board of directors.
  • Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's funding is not transparent.
• Florida Faith and Freedom Coalition Inc – $150,000
  • This organization is the Florida affiliate of the national Faith and Freedom Coalition. Faith and Freedom Coalition President Ralph Reed runs Century Strategies, which has worked for multiple, large energy concerns. Reed announced the formation of the Faith and Freedom Coalition at a rally sponsored by the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity.
  • Florida Faith and Freedom Coalition's funding is not transparent.
• Florida Council for Safe Communities – $20,000
  • Florida Council for Safe Communities recently hired McGuireWoods LLP to represent their petition ot the Florida Supreme Court against the original pro-solar ballot initiative. McGuireWoods LLP's clients in the past two years have included America's Natural Gas Alliance, Dominion Resources, Duke Energy, Energy Future Holdings, ExxonMobil, Southern Company, American Petroleum Institute, and Xcel Energy.
  • The Florida Council for Safe Communities' funding is not transparent.
• Floridians for Government Accountability – $61,750
  • Floridians for Government Accountability is a non-profit run by Florida public relations firm Front Line Strategies, LLC. Front Line Strategies' recent clients includes Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a major opponent of the pro-solar ballot initiative. Jim Hart, the President of Floridians for Government Accountability, is a former Duke Energy executive.
  • Floridians for Government Accountability's funding is not transparent.
• Let's Preserve the American Dream – $500,000
  • In its September 2015 filing, Consumers for Smart Solar reported a $200,000 contribution from Let's Preserve the American Dream PAC, but Ryan Tyson, Executive Director of the PAC, said this was a mistake and that the contribution was actually from the 501(c)(4) group with the same name, formally named Associated Industries for America's Future. The filing has been updated and the amount was changed to a total of $500,000. The 501(c)(4) organization does not need to disclose its funding, but the PAC does and has received $10,000 from Florida Power and Light in June 2015, $5,000 from Floridians United for our Children in February 2015, and $6,000 from Floridians for a Stronger Democracy.
  • The leadership of Let's Preserve the American Dream, Tom Feeney, President, and Ryan Tyson, Executive Director, are also President and Vice President of Associated Industries of Florida. The Associated Industries of Florida Political Action Committee has received a total of $156,500 from Florida Power and Light in 2015, a group which has itself received $50,000 from [Duke Energy] in February 2015 and $100,000 from Florida Power and Light.
• Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options – $50,000
  • The Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options is a non-profit that received $50,000 in funding from the Jaquelin Hume Foundation, which also supports numerous right-wing organizations, including the State Policy Network and several of its think tanks, the American Legislative Exchange Council and the Heartland Institute. They are also listed under the State Policy Network's "education reform resources."
  • The Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options' funding is not transparent.
• Checks and Balances for Economic Growth – $289,965
  • Checks and Balances for Economic Growth is a 501(c)(3) organization based in Washington DC, and was previously named the Institute for Science and Politics, Inc from 2004 to 2007. They ran television ads in Ohio in 2012 attacking Senator Sherrod Brown and President Barack Obama, claiming they were harming coal mining jobs through regulation.
  • The original incorporators of the Institute for Science and Politics Inc were Alan Dye, Douglas MacDonald, and Heidi Abegg from law firm Webster, Chamberlain, and Bean, a firm specialising in non-profit law that has advised fossil-fuel funded clients such as the Heritage Foundation and the American Legislative Exchange Council.
  • Checks and Balances for Economic Growth's funding is not transparent.

Political Contributions

Florida utility companies have traditionally fought pro-solar energy legislation by giving nearly $12 million in campaign contributions to Florida elected officials, included a reported $1.1 million to Governor Rick Scott's 2014 re-election campaign.

Petition Controversies

Petition gatherers for both proposed solar-energy constitutional amendments in Florida are hired, mostly through third-party contractors. Consumers for Smart Solar offers petition gatherers more money per signature, using their huge financial backing from Florida utility companies and organizations with ties to energy giants like Koch Industries. While the Floridians for Solar Choice amendment currently has more signatures, Consumers for Smart Solar is trying to catch up by paying petition gatherers to prioritize their petition over the Floridians for Solar Choice petition.

Organizational Leadership

Co-Chairman Dick Batchelor: "Dick Batchelor is a former Democratic member of the Florida House of Representatives with more than 35 years of business and public affairs experience in Central Florida. He is one of the youngest individuals ever to serve in the Florida House of Representatives (1974-1982), where he served as chairman of the Auditing Committee, the Health and Rehabilitative Services Committee and the House Energy Committee. Additionally, Dick served on the Southeast Regional Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact Commission, which was created by Congress in 1980 to allow states to responsibly dispose of their low-level radioactive waste."

Co-Chairman Jim Kallinger: "Jim Kallinger is an inventor, small business owner, and former Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives from Central Florida. In the Legislature, he served as Chairman of the Business Regulation Committee and as Vice Chair of the Select Committee on Constitutional Amendments."

Coalition Member Screven Watson: "Screven Watson is a former Executive Director of the Florida Democratic Party with an extensive background in public policy at the state and local levels for over two decades."

Coalition Member Billie Tucker: "Billie Tucker is a Florida Tea Party leader and Chairman and CEO of the Grassroots Victory Tour, a non-profit dedicated to the preservation and promotion of America’s founding principles."

Coalition Member Julio A. Fuentes: "Julio A. Fuentes is President & CEO of the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (FSHCC). He founded the chamber in 2000 in response to the tremendous growth of Florida’s Hispanic population. Today, the chamber has grown to 38 chapters and supports a network of over 80,000 minority-owned businesses."

Coalition Member Matt Carter: "Matt Carter is a former Public Service Commission Chairman and current member of the governing board of the state university system."

Related Articles

• Nick Surgey, Koch Group Dumps Half Million Dollars in Florida Anti-Solar Campaign, PRWatch.org, November 13, 2015.
• Nick Surgey, Solar Fight in Florida Heats Up with Mysterious Donor, PRWatch.org, November 9, 2015.
• Jamie Corey, Koch Brothers Backing Misleading Anti-Solar Campaign in Florida, PRWatch.org, September 29, 2015.