Conservatives for Energy Freedom

This article is outside of Ballotpedia's coverage scope and does not receive scheduled updates. If you would like to help our coverage scope grow, consider donating to Ballotpedia.

Conservatives for Energy Freedom

Basic facts
Location:| Florida
Type:| 501(c)(4)
Founder(s):| Debbie Dooley
Year founded:| 2014
Website:| Official website

Conservatives for Energy Freedom (CEF), a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, was founded in July 2014 to support competition and consumer choice in the energy market.[1]

* CEF took positions on 2016 Florida ballot initiatives that would impact decentralization in the energy market, including the Florida Solar Energy Subsidies and Personal Solar Use Initiative and the Florida Property Tax Exemptions for Renewable Energy Equipment Amendment

## Contents

* 1 Mission
* 2 Background
* 3 Political activity
* 3.1 Ballot measure activity
* 3.1.1 Overview of ballot measure support and opposition
* 4 Leadership
* 5 Recent news
* 6 See also
* 7 External links
* 8 Footnotes

## Mission[edit]

According to the organization's website, Conservatives for Energy Freedom described its mission as follows:

“  | We support allowing energy sources to compete on a level playing field in the free market. We believe consumers should determine which energy source is best – not the government nor giant monopolies. We support fossil fuel energy sources but believe that decentralized energy has the best potential to provide choice and competition to government created monopolies.[2][3] | ”

|
|

## Background[edit]

Conservatives for Energy Freedom (CEF) was established in July 2014. The group was organized by Debbie Dooley, founder of the Green Tea Coalition, a conservative movement within the Tea Party that aimed to support consumer choice in the energy market. Similarly, CEF sought to increase competition for government-created energy monopolies and support consumer choice, including access to renewable energy sources.[2][4]

According to the CEF website, the organization aimed to establish state directors across the country to support the development of a decentralized energy market. As of August 2016, CEF had a state director in Florida.[2]

As of 2016, CEF was a member of Floridians for Solar Choice, a Florida political committee made up of a coalition of organizations that opposed the Florida Solar Energy Subsidies and Personal Solar Use Initiative, which would give residents of Florida the right to own or lease solar energy equipment for personal use while also enacting constitutional protections for any state or local law ensuring that residents who do not produce solar energy can abstain from subsidizing its production.[2][5]

## Political activity[edit]

As a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, Conservatives for Energy Freedom (CEF) may engage in political lobbying and campaign activities.[6]

### Ballot measure activity[edit]

CEF has taken positions on Florida ballot initiatives that impact competition and consumer choice in the energy market.[7][8][9]

“Free market and the freedom to choose — those are core conservative principles,” said Dooley. “Unless you cherry-pick your principles, if you’re a true conservative, this is something that resonates with you. I think the residents are fed up with the government telling them who to purchase their power from.”[10]

#### Overview of ballot measure support and opposition[edit]

The following table details CEF’s ballot measure stances available on Ballotpedia:

Ballot measure support and opposition for Conservatives for Energy Freedom

Ballot measure  | Year  | Position  | Status
Florida Property Tax Exemptions for Renewable Energy Equipment, Amendment 4 (August 2016) | 2016 | Supported[8] |
Florida Solar Energy Subsidies and Personal Solar Use, Amendment 1 (2016) | 2016 | Opposed[11] |

## Leadership[edit]

The following individuals held leadership positions with Conservatives for Energy Freedom during the 2016 election cycle:[2]

* Debbie Dooley, Founder
* Tory Perfetti, Florida director

## Recent news[edit]

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Conservatives for Energy Freedom. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Conservatives for Energy Freedom - Google News

## See also[edit]

* Florida Property Tax Exemptions for Renewable Energy Equipment, Amendment 4 (August 2016)
* Florida Solar Energy Subsidies and Personal Solar Use, Amendment 1 (2016)
* Energy Policy

## External links[edit]

* Conservatives for Energy Freedom homepage
* Conservatives for Energy Freedom on Facebook

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ Facebook, "Conservatives for Energy Freedom," accessed August 25, 2016
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Conservatives for Energy Freedom, "About," accessed August 25, 2016
3. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
4. ↑ PRI.org, "The 'green' Tea Party fights for a more environmentally friendly GOP," April 11, 2015
5. ↑ Floridians for Solar Choice, "What is Floridians for Solar Choice?" accessed August 25, 2016
6. ↑ Internal Revenue Service, "Political Campaign and Lobbying Activities of IRC 501(c)(4), (c)(5), and (c)(6) Organizations," accessed July 13, 2015
7. ↑ Conservatives for Energy Freedom, "Florida Solar Choice Facts," accessed August 25, 2016
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Yes on 4, "Endorsements," accessed August 25, 2016
9. ↑ Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, "Coalition of conservatives and progressives join to battle utilities’ curbs on Florida solar," May 6, 2016
10. ↑ Think Progress, "Florida conservative group launches a ballot initiative to increase access to solar power," January 8, 2015
11. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `I`

v • e

Influencers

Main|

What is an influencer? Contact the Ballotpedia team