DeSantis vetoed $377M in free energy-efficiency money despite extreme Florida heat

Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) just turned down $377 million in free federal energy-efficiency money, despite Florida suffering ever-hotter temperatures.

The funding earmarked for Florida came from both the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. It included nearly $174 million for energy-efficiency improvement rebates and $173 million for energy-efficient home appliance purchases for consumers. There was also $7 million for a training program for electrification contractors.

As Bloomberg reported today, “The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’s Office of Energy notified the Energy Department last month it was ‘respectfully’ withdrawing applications for the funds after DeSantis issued a line-item veto for a $5 million federal grant for the state to set up programs to distribute the rebates.”

As usual, DeSantis’ team refused to comment.

DeSantis proposed tax credits for gas stoves in February as part of the “liberals are going to take your gas stoves” campaign – despite natural gas being actual culprit for rising electricity bills for Floridians.

Meanwhile, as WUSF reports, “2023 has already been Miami’s hottest year on record, with the city breaking 15 daily peak temperature records – seven since June 1 alone.” And it’s not just Miami in the Sunshine State.

Electrek’s Take

In case you hadn’t heard, DeSantis is running for president. His rejection of free federal funds for Florida is a purely political move. From DeSantis’ corner, to accept would mean implicit approval of President Joe Biden’s clean energy laws.

Since DeSantis is all in on the “Fight Back Against the Woke Agenda” campaign, doing something sensible about energy efficiency would tarnish his self-perceived tough-guy image. He also killed a money-saving EV bill last week for the same reasons.

So his rejection of this money as an attempt to win Republican votes is going to cost Florida residents a lot of money. Florida is getting hotter, and the cost of electricity bills are going up.

Energy-efficient appliances save people money. Energy-efficiency home improvements save people money, and make homes more comfortable. And the crucial benefit of reducing emissions as the result of adopting energy efficiency is a given, although that doesn’t matter to a lot of DeSantis supporters – and it definitely doesn’t matter to DeSantis.

What’s pathetic is that Florida is missing out on these funds for nothing, because power-hungry Ron DeSantis is going to lose the presidential election anyway.

Read more: Florida’s governor just locked ‘Florida into a dirty fossil fuel future’

Image: “Ron DeSantis – Caricature” by DonkeyHotey is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

If you live in an area that has frequent natural disaster events and are interested in exploring ways to make your home more resilient to power outages, consider going solar and adding a battery storage system. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and you share your phone number with them.

Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –ad