The Florida Senate
BILL ANALYSIS AND FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT
(This document is based on the provisions contained in the legislation as of the latest date listed below.)
Prepared By: The Professional Staff of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Environment, and General
Government
BILL: CS/SB 1678
INTRODUCER: Regulated Industries Committee and Senator Gibson and others
SUBJECT: Energy Equity Task Force
DATE: February 21, 2022
ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR REFERENCE ACTION
1. Sharon Imhof RI Fav/CS
2. Blizzard Betta AEG Recommend: Favorable
3. AP
Please see Section IX. for Additional Information:
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE - Substantial Changes
I. Summary:
SB 1678 creates the Energy Equity Task Force (task force). The task force is adjunct to the
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS). The bill specifies that the task force
must provide recommendations for fostering a fair and equitable transition of Florida’s energy
infrastructure to renewable energy technologies within minority, underserved, rural, and low-
income communities.
The task force must comply with the requirements of section 20.052, Florida Statutes, which
establishes the mandatory provisions for advisory bodies, commissions, and boards adjunct to an
executive agency. The bill requires the task force to submit a report of its recommendations to
the Governor, the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the President of the
Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by September 30, 2023.
The DACS is required to provide staffing and administrative support for the task force.
Temporary staff may be needed in the future to implement the administrative responsibilities
required by the bill.
The bill’s provisions expire on July 1, 2025.
The bill is effective July 1, 2022.
REVISED: BILL: CS/SB 1678 Page 2
II. Present Situation:
Advisory Bodies, Commissions, and Boards
Any advisory body, commission, board of trustees, or collegial body created by statute as an
adjunct to an executive agency must be established, evaluated, or maintained in accordance with
s. 20.052, F.S. To be created, such a body must be found necessary and beneficial to further a
public purpose.
1
The relevant executive agency must advise the Legislature when the body is no
longer essential and beneficial to the public purpose and the body must be terminated.
2
The Legislature and the public must be currently informed of the numbers, purpose, membership,
activities, and expenses of such bodies.
3
Such a body may only be created or reestablished if:
It meets a statutorily defined purpose;
Its powers and responsibilities conform to the definitions in s. 20.03, F.S., relating to terms
throughout the structure of the executive branch;
Its members are appointed for four-year staggered terms, unless otherwise provided in the
Florida Constitution; and
Its members serve without additional compensation and receive only per diem and
reimbursement for travel expenses.
4
Meetings by such bodies are considered public meetings, and minutes including vote records,
must be maintained.
5
If the body is abolished, such records must be appropriately stored within
30 days of abolition.
6
Land Use Implications of Different Forms of Energy Production
A utility-scale solar generation system requires larger quantities of land per unit of power
produced than traditional power plants.
7
Solar generation requires ten times the land per unit of
power produced than coal or natural gas plants.
8
As a result of the large scale nature of such
projects and the fact that they must be located in a place where the natural resource is most
available, such as less industrially-developed areas, siting such facilities can be challenging and
viewed as unpopular by those who do not want these large projects near their homes.
9
1
Section 20.052(1), F.S.
2
Section 20.052(2), F.S.
3
Section 20.052(3), F.S.
4
Section 20.052(4), F.S.
5
Section 20.052(5)(c), F.S.
6
Section 20.052(5)(d), F.S.
7
Samantha Gross, Renewables, land use, and local opposition in the United States,
https://www.brookings.edu/research/renewables-land-use-and-local-opposition-in-the-united-states/ (last visited
Jan. 31, 2022).
8
Id.
9
Id. BILL: CS/SB 1678 Page 3
In Archer, Florida, a proposed solar power farm was opposed by Alachua County
commissioners.
10
In evaluating the project, the commissioners took into consideration health,
environmental, and property value concerns of the historically black community.
11
Local Land Development Regulations and Comprehensive Plans
The Community Planning Act (act) directs the manner in which local governments create and
adopt their local comprehensive plans.
12
The act prescribes certain principles, guidelines,
standards, and strategies to allow for an orderly and balanced future land development.
13
Section 163.3177, F.S., outlines the required and optional elements of a comprehensive plan and
includes provisions which govern agricultural lands and practices.
14
The act does not specifically
address how agricultural lands with solar electric generation facilities should be considered for
purposes of local government comprehensive plans.
Solar Facility Approval Process
The Legislature enacted s.163.3205, F.S., in 2021, to require solar facilities to be a permitted use
in all agricultural land use categories in a local government’s comprehensive plan and all
agricultural zoning districts within an unincorporated area.
15
Solar facilities must comply with
setback and landscape buffer area criteria for similar uses in the agricultural district.
16
A county
may adopt ordinances specifying buffer and landscaping requirements for solar facilities.
17
Such
requirements may not exceed those for similar uses involving construction of other facilities
permitted in agricultural land use categories and zoning districts.
18
Florida’s Demographics
According to the United States Census Bureau, Florida has a population of 21,781,128, with the
following demographics:
19
Age and sex:
o Persons over the age of 65 – 20.9 percent
o Female persons – 51.1 percent
Race and Hispanic Origin:
o Black or African American alone – 16.9 percent
o American Indian and Alaska Native alone – 0.5 percent
o Asian alone – 3.0 percent
10
Melissa Hernandez, County says no to proposed solar power farm near Archer,
https://www.gainesville.com/story/news/local/2020/10/07/alachua-county-says-no-solar-power-farm-proposed-near-
archer/5897167002/ (last visited Jan. 31, 2022).
11
Id.
12
Section 163.3167(2), F.S.
13
Id.
14
Section 163.3162, F.S.
15
See Ch. 2021-178, s. 5, Laws of Fla.
16
Section 163.3205(3), F.S.
17
Id.
18
Section 163.3205(4), F.S.
19
U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts Florida, https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/FL/NES010218#NES010218 (last
visited Jan. 31, 2022). BILL: CS/SB 1678 Page 4
o Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone – 0.1 percent
o Two or More Races – 2.2 percent
o Hispanic or Latino – 26.4 percent
o White alone, not Hispanic or Latino – 53.2 percent
Median Household Income Average – $55,660
Persons in poverty – 12.4 percent
Energy Burden
According to the United States Energy Information Administration, 31 percent of United States
households face a challenge in meeting energy needs.
20
The American Council for an Energy-
Efficient Economy, reports that low-income households in Florida cities face high energy
burdens.
21
The report states that on “average, half of low-income households in Jacksonville,
Tampa, Orlando, and Miami have an energy burden greater than 7.2 [percent], and a quarter of
them, over 12 [percent].”
22
An energy burden is the percent of gross household income spent on energy costs.
23
Low-income
households face a disproportionately higher energy burden.
24
Factors influencing high energy
burden include higher-cost fuels and energy-inefficient homes which lack adequate insulation or
have older appliances.
25
Low-income communities face barriers to energy technologies such as
renewable energy which can drive down energy costs.
26
According to the DACS, the Office of Energy has commissioned an energy equity study,
scheduled for publication during summer of 2022.
27
The DACS plans to use this information in
developing programs and policies to achieve a more equitable economy that is more energy
efficient, “reduces energy costs, and promotes the health, safety, and well-being of all.”
28
Rural Economic Development Initiative
The Legislature has recognized that “rural communities and regions continue to face
extraordinary challenges in their efforts to significantly improve their economies, specifically in
terms of personal income, job creation, average wages, and strong tax bases.”
29
In response, the
20
U.S. Energy Information Administration, Today in Energy, https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=37072 (last
visited Jan. 31, 2022).
21
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, How energy efficiency can help low-income households in Florida,
https://www.aceee.org/sites/default/files/pdf/fact-sheet/ses-florida-100917.pdf (last visited Jan 31, 2022).
22
Id.
23
U.S. Department of Energy, Low-Income Community Energy Solutions, https://www.energy.gov/eere/slsc/low-income-
community-energy-
solutions#:~:text=Energy%20burden%20is%20defined%20as,income%20spent%20on%20energy%20costs.&text=In%20so
me%20areas%2C%20depending%20on,are%20defined%20as%20low%2Dincome (last visited Jan. 31, 2022).
24
Id.
25
Id.
26
Id.
27
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, 2022 Legislative Bill Analysis for SB 1678, p. 2 (Jan. 10, 2022)
(on file with the Senate Committee on Regulated Industries).
28
Id.
29
Section 288.0656(1)(a), F.S. BILL: CS/SB 1678 Page 5
Legislature created the Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI) within the Department of
Economic Opportunity (DEO).
30
Under current law, a rural area of opportunity (RAO) is “a rural community, or a region
composed of rural communities, designated by the Governor, which has been adversely affected
by an extraordinary economic event, severe or chronic distress, or a natural disaster or that
presents a unique economic development opportunity of regional impact.”
31
The following are
considered rural communities:
Counties with fewer than 75,000 people;
Counties with fewer than 125,000 people that are contiguous to a county with fewer than
75,000 people;
Municipalities within a county with fewer than 75,000 people;
Municipalities within a county with fewer than 125,000 people that is contiguous to a county
with fewer than 75,000 people; and
An unincorporated federal enterprise community or an incorporated rural city with fewer
than 25,000 people and an employment base focused on traditional agricultural or resource-
based industries, located in a county not defined as rural, which has at least three or more of
economic distress factors and verified by the DEO.
32
Economic distress means conditions affecting the fiscal and economic viability of a rural
community.
33
This includes factors such as low per capita income, high unemployment, high
underemployment, and low weekly wages.
34
III. Effect of Proposed Changes:
The bill creates the task force, which is adjunct to the DACS. The bill specifies that the task
force must provide recommendations for fostering a fair and equitable transition of Florida’s
energy infrastructure to renewable energy technologies within minority, underserved, rural, and
low-income communities.
The task force must comply with the requirements of s. 20.052, F.S., which establishes the
mandatory provisions for advisory bodies, commissions, and boards adjunct to an executive
agency.
The bill requires the task force to have at least 11 members, reflecting Florida’s ethnic and
gender diversity, as follows:
Four representatives from minority, underserved, rural, or low-income communities from
different regions of the state;
At least one environmental justice expert;
At least one representative from the electrical workers profession;
30
Section 288.0656(1)(b), F.S.
31
Section 288.0656(2)(d), F.S.
32
Section 288.0656(2)(e), F.S.
33
Section 288.0656(2)(C), F.S.
34
Id. BILL: CS/SB 1678 Page 6
At least two energy industry liaisons;
At least one representative from a statewide environmentally focused group;
One member appointed by the President of the Senate; and
One member appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The bill requires the task force to recommend appropriate policies, including necessary statutory
changes, for the equitable siting of energy infrastructure. This includes utility-scale solar arrays
in nonresidential neighborhoods, nonrural residential communities, and rural communities; as
well as industrial solar array facility sites in a manner compatible with county or municipal
comprehensive plans.
The task force must also examine strategies to assist minority, underserved, rural, and low-
income communities in transitioning to energy efficiency, including energy-efficient appliances,
weatherization, and other methods to benefit from lower energy costs.
The bill requires the DACS to provide the task force with staffing and administrative support to
perform its duties.
Under the bill, the task force must submit a recommendations report to the Governor, the
Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the President of the Senate, and the
Speaker of the House of Representatives by September 30, 2023.
The bill’s provisions expire on July 1, 2025.
The bill is effective July 1, 2022.
IV. Constitutional Issues:
A. Municipality/County Mandates Restrictions:
None.
B. Public Records/Open Meetings Issues:
None.
C. Trust Funds Restrictions:
None.
D. State Tax or Fee Increases:
None.
E. Other Constitutional Issues:
None. BILL: CS/SB 1678 Page 7
V. Fiscal Impact Statement:
A. Tax/Fee Issues:
None.
B. Private Sector Impact:
None.
C. Government Sector Impact:
The DACS has indicated the need for additional resources to provide staffing and
administrative support for the task force. Temporary staff may be needed in the future for
the administrative responsibilities required by the bill.
35
VI. Technical Deficiencies:
None.
VII. Related Issues:
None.
VIII. Statutes Affected:
None.
IX. Additional Information:
A. Committee Substitute – Statement of Substantial Changes:
(Summarizing differences between the Committee Substitute and the prior version of the bill.)
CS by Regulated Industries Committee on February 1, 2022:
The committee substitute:
Changes the composition requirements of the task force to include:
o One environmental justice expert, instead of two; and
o At least one representative from the electrical workers profession;
Requires a recommendations report to be filed by September 30, 2023, instead of
requiring an interim report by that date; and
Provides that the bill’s provisions expire upon submission of the report, instead of
July 2025.
B. Amendments:
None.
35
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Bill Analysis of SB 1678 (Jan. 25, 2022) (on file with the Senate
Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government. BILL: CS/SB 1678 Page 8
This Senate Bill Analysis does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill’s introducer or the Florida Senate.