Lighting Up St. Petersburg (with Renewable Energy)

 



The City of St. Pete's Logo.
 

Our Idea - Solar Energy Meets Local Business in St. Pete

By Anna Lynn Heine & Kelli Alford

For our Culminating Action project, we sought to push renewable energy so that it will be a physical reality for businesses of St. Petersburg. St. Petersburg signed an agreement in 2016 to pursue 100% renewable energy by 2016, but last November, this goal was pushed back until 2050 (Newborn 2021). By pushing this deadline back we are noticing that the City is not progressing at the speed necessary to inhibit the effects of climate change. This lack of action is particularly visible in the commercial sectors of St. Petersburg.

Florida is known as the Sunshine State, and with St. Petersburg branding themselves as the Sunshine City, solar energy is the most sought after source of renewable energy in this region. Solar Energy within the private sector has proven to be a challenge with energy companies having a hold on costs and incentives, yet there are still manners around this. For the focus of this project, our objective was to act as a liaison between local businesses and the City Council for what they would need to make the switch to solar energy. We set goals to get at least 30 local business contacts and bring them to the City Council along with the business owners’ concerns and ideas for incentivizing solar.

St. Pete's Renewable Energy Goals

In 2019, the City of St. Petersburg came out with their Integrated Sustainability Action Plan. This plan contains ambitious climate action goals, including a transition to 100% Clean Energy by 2035; while also reviving the natural environment, working on racial injustices, and maintaining the city’s ever growing economy. On their website, the City of St. Pete claims that “community and business outreach will be an ongoing part of developing the detailed steps and work needed to accomplish these goals.” However, based on what we have learned throughout working on this project, it does not seem that the city has been upholding their promises of helping the community as a whole, or businesses as a whole transition their existing buildings to solar energy. As we dove deeper into this topic, and talked to small business owners, the issue of solar planning was proving to be much more complicated than what meets the eye.

Trial 1

To begin this project we decided to frame our conversations in a manner that would be as open as possible to every individual and explain that we are just trying to lead a conversation with the City Council about what businesses want and need. This is similar to the study by Cialdini & Jacobson (2021), in which they discuss how to appeal to one’s values (for businesses it will be money) and promote conversation about climate change. To begin this conversation, we walked Central Avenue attempting to talk with business owners. At most establishments, the owners were not present, but those that were, we were able to speak directly to about 10 individuals. The common trend among the businesses was that they were renting their buildings from the building owners, and paying monthly rent to the landlords directly. They all loved the idea of transitioning their buildings to solar energy, and all supported St. Pete’s 100% goal. However, in terms of implementing solar onto their buildings, they all claimed to be powerless, and they said it was up to their owners. They also said that their landlords were not even responsive to basic issues in their buildings that would save existing energy, such as cracks in doors that let out AC. One business owner that we spoke with owned a separate building that she leased out to other tenants, and she claimed that because they were in charge of their utility bills, it would be up to them to change the building to solar. She also said that business owners frequently made upgrades to the buildings using their own expenses, to upgrade their business, but landlords were not in charge of making those building upgrades that inherently enhance the business. Overall, there was a general disconnect of whose job it was to implement solar on the buildings. This day ended with us having to brainstorm other ideas to get businesses trying for solar and the next idea was to try to find the landlord contacts.

A few business cards given to us by business owners that were willing to stay in contact with us.
Map of the buildings that house small businesses that were visited on Central Avenue.

Trial 2

The second part of this project was trying to contact landlords directly. Because none of the business owners felt comfortable enough to share their landlords contact information, this involved lots of Google searching. The search for information led to lots of websites advertising to sell landlord contacts, but requesting large sums of money and did not guarantee information. For the sake of security and because we are college students, we did not buy their services. By not buying into the websites, we were left empty-handed and frustrated as we did not know any good way to find out contact information. As a final attempt, we called one business owner that had seemed more open to our project previously and requested his landlord information. Once we were given the phone number, we immediately reached out but were not answered and never got a response to our voicemails. Now we had to move to the next idea, which was to speak with the City Council.


Anna Lynn Heine leaving a voicemail for a St. Pete landlord company.

Trial 3

To reach the City Council, our original plan was to stand up and present our ideas and discussions we had with the business owners at a City Council meeting, but none of the scheduled meetings were within the time frame of this project. Instead, we emailed every single City Council member, and the city’s Sustainability Manager, Sharon Wright, and requested to meet with them. The only person that responded was Councilwoman Gina Driscoll. Driscoll has a great reputation within the environmental community in St. Pete, and thankfully, was willing to meet with us over video conference.

These Zoom calls ended with two attempts, as ten minutes after the first meeting was supposed to start, we were informed that she was having technical difficulties. We were able to reschedule the meeting for two days later, which proved to be a successful zoom meeting. Driscoll explained to us that the City does want to help both businesses and citizens obtain solar on their properties. The only issues that arise from this is that there are no incentives setup for commercial buildings yet. Driscoll explained that a major reason there are only residential programs is because they are easier to crowdsource and order in bulk for neighborhoods and because individuals can take out loans for solar. The issue she assumes with commercial buildings not getting this is because there is a competition, but also with what we explain in which no one is wanting to claim responsibility for the costs. All being said, Driscoll offered the idea that if we want to get commercial solar grants and funding on the 2023 fiscal budget to see change, we need to keep pushing and get businesses to confirm they would like to take up this action if it was made easier.

To finish the meeting, Driscoll offered us two contacts, Sharon Wright whom we had previously contacted, and Joe Furst. Furst is a land developer from South Florida, who just bought a significant amount of property at the Warehouse Arts District in St. Pete. His plans with the land are to build up a business district that is walkable, and “environmentally friendly.” Driscoll gave us his contact information because it can be a challenge to get solar on pre-existing infrastructure, thus perhaps with this new development we can understand what new business infrastructure developers would need to ensure solar energy.

When emailing Furst, we asked him if he was planning to implement solar onto his future “environmentally friendly” development. And, if he would need or want to see any form of grants or programs to attain this infrastructure if he did not. Furst’s response did not offer any commitment to solar energy but he did say that he would want to see the capital expense offset. This email was received two days before the project was due, so unfortunately this is where our outreach had to end.

Zoom call between Gina Driscoll, Anna Lynn Heine, and Kelli Alford.
 

Relation to Class

Throughout this entire project, we have used communication and framing skills. When we brought this conversation to business owners and the city, we framed it in a way that did not have to do much with the environment but rather the value of money and accountability. Throughout our conversations with business owners, we framed renewable energy investment as a way to save money long-term and to advertise their business as something who cares about being Earth-friendly. When it came to the city, we framed solar energy as something that they committed to and to which the people hold value to, thus they needed to be held accountable for taking steps toward accomplishing their energy goals.

We learned in class that sometimes it is not denial that is preventing them from moving towards renewable energy, but it is lack of incentive and risk perception. This was seen with the local businesses in St. Pete as they explained they did not have proper incentives that would drive them towards renewable energy. No business told us that it was not an important issue, or one that they were not worried about, but rather they alluded that the costs do not outweigh the risks. The city government needs to create incentives for business and building owners to transition to renewable energy, and the lack of that happening, is most likely due to a lack of risk perception on behalf of the citizens of St. Pete, the city government, and business leaders in the city. It seems as though everyone’s risk perceptions of the effects of climate change on St. Pete does not fully register with everyone. They do not realize how fast the impacts of heat waves, larger and more frequent hurricanes, erosion, and flooding will impact the city. They also seem to think renewable energy implementation and weaning off of fossil fuels is something that can be put on the back burner. It is evident that the perception of climate change’s timeline does not align with real time steps to combat it.

Finally, we learned how to organize and petition the city. We have learned throughout the duration of this project that we must hold our governments accountable for the goals that they commit to, because if we do not hold them accountable, they will not take action towards succeeding in them. Just like Dan Xie, PIRG National Political Director taught us, we must set goals and continue making efforts for change. We have to use organizing skills to get stakeholders involved, and communicate real solutions and action. If we do not organize and hold our governments accountable, they will continue to push their goals to be later and later, which will cause greenhouse gas emissions to continue to increase, and the climate could progressively worse with time.

Takeaways

Unfortunately, our biggest takeaway is that although the city of St. Petersburg has a 100% renewable energy goal, there is not enough action towards meeting that goal for commercial businesses, even though they are the backbone to the city. Additionally, no one wants to take responsibility towards initiating those actions as the costs are too high and the risk of climate change is not high enough for the investment in greener energy. Uninvolved building owners do not want to make changes to their infrastructure, and business owners do not have enough motivation or extra revenue to purchase their own solar panels. The city does not have enough pressure or momentum to create subsidies or incentives for businesses or building owners to implement renewable energy, and do not seem to be going out of their way to make it happen. Just like every other country, state, and city government, they only seem to be pushing off the 100% goal to deal with years down the line, so they do not have to make real changes or real actions immediately. No one in direct positions of power wants to take responsibility for this 100% goal, so as citizens, we must continue to add pressure, and rally up business leaders within the community to show the city that they need add incentives and real actions in order for our city to transition to 100% renewable energy and made a difference within the climate crisis. This project is not concluded, as we will keep making efforts for change and attempts to join the businesses of St. Pete. There is hope, but it will take lots of reframing and communication to get more people on board.




Sources

Cialdini, Robert B., and Ryan P. Jacobson. “Influences of Social Norms on Climate Change-Related Behaviors.” Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, vol. 42, Elsevier Ltd, 2021, pp. 1–8, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2021.01.005.

Huxster, J. (February 11, 2022). Quick and Dry Climate Change Science Refresher [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://moodle.eckerd.edu/moodle_20212/course/view.php?id=515.

Marlon, van der Linden, S., Howe, P. D., Leiserowitz, A., Woo, S. H. L., & Broad, K. (2019). Detecting local environmental change: the role of experience in shaping risk judgments about global warming. Journal of Risk Research, 22(7), 936–950. https://doi.org/10.1080/13669877.2018.1430051.

Newborn, S. (2021, November 10). Pinellas pledges it will move to 100 percent renewable energy by mid-century. WUSF Public Media. Retrieved May 13, 2022, from https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/environment/2021-11-10/pinellas-pledges-it-will-move-to-100-percent-renewable-energy-by-mid-century.

Stoknes, & Randers, J. (2015). What We Think about When We Try Not to Think about Global Warming: Toward a New Psychology of Climate Action. Chelsea Green Publishing.   

         The City of St. Peterburg. (2019, April). Integrated Sustainability Action Plan Technical Report. Retrieved May 13, 2022, from https://www.ctsfl.us/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/ISAP-Technical-Report_FINAL_PART1-Main_Report-April_2019_webview.pdf.

The City of St. Petersburg. (n.d.). Climate action, sustainability & resilience. St. Petersburg. Retrieved May 13, 2022, from https://www.stpete.org/residents/sustainability/plans_policies.php.

The St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. (2018, December 13). Value of tourism. Pinellas CVB. Retrieved May 13, 2022, from https://partners.visitstpeteclearwater.com/resource/value-tourism.

Xie, D. (April 5, 2022). Planning Campaigns: How to pick them, how to plan them, and why. [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from https://moodle.eckerd.edu/moodle_20212/course/view.php?id=515#section-10.