Florida’s anti-climate law won’t slow renewables growth

Hello, and welcome back to Energy Source, coming to you from New York.

We start this morning with a scoop that US company Venture Global has secured the first major deal to supply liquefied natural gas to Ukraine amid a need to bolster energy security in Europe as it weans itself off Russian pipeline imports.

The move coincides with Russia escalating attacks on gas storage and electricity infrastructure in Ukraine, which has highlighted an urgent need to strengthen and diversify the nation’s energy supplies.

The FT also has a new special report on the state of clean hydrogen, once hailed as the Swiss-army knife of the energy transition for its potential to decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors. Check out the report, including stories on green hydrogen’s chicken and egg problem and the search for so-called “gold” hydrogen.

Today’s newsletter looks at an upcoming law in Florida that will rollback some of its clean energy programmes — and why it will do little to shift the state’s renewables buildout.

Thanks for reading.

Amanda

The real impact of Ron DeSantis’s clean energy rollback

Next month, Florida will erase most mentions of climate change and requirements for renewable targets in its laws in a rule that arrives just as the Sunshine state bakes in record heat.

The legislation will also prohibit offshore wind in Florida, as well as rollback energy efficiency programmes and relax regulations over the buildout of gas infrastructure. To comply, the state’s energy office has introduced a proposal to erase Florida’s goal of 100 per cent renewable energy by 2050.

The rollbacks come as Florida becomes a top state for solar power, installing more gigawatts than any other state in the first quarter of 2024 and supporting the trend of some Republican-led states such as Texas and Oklahoma in leading renewables growth.

“It’s two different worlds in Florida, not only with energy but with climate change,” said James Parker-Flynn, director of the Center for Environmental, Energy, and Land Use Law at Florida State University. He called the upcoming rule “an unfortunate step back” in Florida’s commitment to clean energy and climate mitigation.

Florida generates almost three-quarters of its electricity from gas, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Last month, Republican governor Ron DeSantis said the state was “restoring sanity in our approach to energy and rejecting the agenda of the radical green zealots” with the rule.

Drilling past the political rhetoric, the law’s impact on Florida’s power mix is likely to be minimal: the state has no wind power, and solar continues to be cheaper than new fossil fuel generation to deploy on to the grid.

“We don’t change our strategy based on political announcements,” said Johan Vanhee, chief commercial officer of Miami-based Origis Energy, one of the largest US renewable developers. “Florida is currently a leading state in terms of renewable investments, and I don’t see that changing.”

One large utility serving Florida told Energy Source the upcoming law “doesn’t change the fact that solar produces the lowest bill for customers” and will have no effect on its operations.

The unconcerned response from Florida’s power sector highlights the shifting political landscape of renewables, as their low costs have made them a winning business case that’s prevailed over partisan attacks. Also headquartered in Florida is NextEra, the largest US renewables developer and owner of Florida Power & Light, the biggest US utility that serves more than 12mn residents across the state.

“The next new FPL is going to be built on solar and battery storage,” said Armando Pimentel, chief executive of FPL, at NextEra’s Investor Day on Tuesday. FPL plans to invest $12bn in solar in the next three years and anticipates gas will fall from 73 per cent to 42 per cent of its power mix by 2033.

Michael Gerrard, founder and faculty director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, warned that while the law was “mostly performative”, it could repel renewable investment and deter economic development from businesses including Big Tech companies which have clean energy targets.

Gerrard said: “Renewables are among the fastest-growing sectors of the economy. If you’re saying you don’t want that sector in your state, it’ll just move someplace else.”

Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, a non-profit, also warned the law could inhibit local governments from addressing climate change in a state that is at the forefront of rising sea levels and heavy rain storms.

“It is not preparing the political population, the citizens of Florida, to address and embrace the fact that they are at risk and they need to be on the forefront of resolving things,” Smith said. “[DeSantis] is at 180 degrees opposite of what is the factual basis for what Floridians are experiencing.”

EV snapshot

Drivers are racking up more miles in electric vehicles than internal combustion engines in certain markets, according to a new report from BloombergNEF. The consultancy found battery electric vehicles travelled 66 per cent and 56 per cent more distance annually than their gas-guzzling counterparts in China and Netherlands, respectively.

The annual report maintained a bright long-term outlook for EVs despite a slower growth rate in certain markets and several carmakers softening their electrification targets. BNEF expects EVs to make up 45 per cent of global car sales by the end of the decade.

Job moves

• The US Senate confirmed Democratic nominee David Rosner and Republican nominee Lindsay See as commissioners of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Wednesday.

• Eric Williams has been appointed chief financial officer of US rooftop solar company Sunnova, succeeding Robert Lane. Williams previously served as the CFO of Diversified Energy Company.

• Freyr, a battery developer, has reappointed co-founder and board chair Tom Jensen as chief executive, replacing Birger Steen who is leaving the company after 10 months. Evan Calio has been appointed as chief financial officer, succeeding Oscar Brown, and Daniel Barcelo will serve as board chair.

• Former US commerce secretary and White House chief of staff William M Daley will join Crux, a US tax credits trading platform, as a senior adviser.

• Ariel Porat, former head of Siemens Energy’s European business, will succeed Ronen Faier as chief financial officer of SolarEdge, an Israeli solar inverter company.

• Kai Strohbecke will resign from his position as chief financial officer of Singapore-based manufacturer Maxeon Solar Technologies in August.

Power Points

Energy Source is written and edited by Jamie Smyth, Myles McCormick, Amanda Chu, Tom Wilson and Malcolm Moore, with support from the FT’s global team of reporters. Reach us at energy.source@ft.com and follow us on X at @FTEnergy. Catch up on past editions of the newsletter here.