E&E News covered Florida PSC's approval of FPL's SolarTogether, the largest utility customer solar program ("green tariff") in the nation quoting AEE's Dylan Reed. Read excerpts below and the entire E&E News piece here. 

The largest community solar program in the nation will go ahead in Florida, after regulators approved a $1.79 billion slate of projects yesterday from utility Florida Power & Light Co. SolarTogether, as the program is known, will bring 20 new solar farms online by the middle of next year, adding up to just under 1,500 megawatts. That will double the country's current amount of community solar capacity, according to FPL.

The program will allow residential customers to tap a portion of the power produced at one of those sites, three-quarters of which is reserved for large businesses and governments. Unlike previous deals that have driven corporate investment in renewables, customers won't be locked into long-term power contracts — a feature that clean energy advocates heralded as a breakthrough way to meet the state's demand for solar.

"Today's program really puts Florida in a leadership role," said Dylan Reed, director of state policy and wholesale markets at Advanced Energy Economy, which called it a "landmark" plan. In return for paying more upfront on their power bills and tapping electricity from a shared solar project, customers will receive credits on their bills that the utility said would result in net savings over time. 

In return for paying more upfront on their power bills and tapping electricity from a shared solar project, customers will receive credits on their bills that the utility said would result in net savings over time. Among the supporters of FPL's petition were Walmart Inc. and 7-Eleven Inc., along with several Miami-area cities and counties...

Read the entire E&E News piece here.