TALLAHASSEE — The state's electric utilities will make less money, resulting in fewer dollars for the state and local governments, if Florida voters allow businesses and property owners to sell limited amounts of solar-generated power, according to state economists.

However, a constitutional amendment proposed by the group Floridians for Solar Choice would lead to more solar energy being available across the Sunshine State than otherwise would be anticipated, a state panel wrote in a financial "impact statement" released Monday.

The impact statement, prepared as the Florida Supreme Court reviews the ballot language of the solar initiative, doesn't offer hard numbers on the reduced revenues.

"The timing and magnitude of these decreases cannot be determined because they are dependent on various technological and economic factors that cannot be predicted with certainty," the report said. "State and local governments will incur additional costs, which will likely be minimal and partially offset by fees."

The economists listed a number of factors for the lack of hard data, ranging from the declining cost of solar energy production to potential actions by state and local governments to offset revenue reductions.

The diverse coalition pushing the solar amendment said it was pleased with the economic review by what is known as the Financial Impact Estimating Conference.

"We agree with the conclusion reached by this body that the ballot initiative will not increase state and local taxes," Tory Perfetti, chairman of Floridians for Solar Choice, said in a prepared statement. "While more consumer-cited solar energy systems may cause a change in how power is produced in the Sunshine State, there are overwhelming economic advantages to allowing the free market and customer choice to play a greater role in Florida's energy mix."

Representatives from the power companies pointed to a joint memorandum submitted to the state economists.

In the April 22 memo, Florida Power & Light Co., Duke Energy Florida, Tampa Electric Co. and Gulf Power Co. noted the four regulated utilities paid $643.9 million in franchise fees in 2014, a figure that could decline as solar suppliers providing service for neighborhood shops or homes wouldn't be expected to enter similar deals with local governments.

"There is no question that those franchise fees would not be paid on (local solar electricity suppliers') sales," the memo said.

Amber Hughes, a lobbyist for the Florida League of Cities, cautioned the economists on April 10 that allowing independent solar suppliers to set up shop could trigger termination clauses in a number of existing franchise contracts between utilities and municipalities because it would lead to competition within service boundaries.

The economists' report projects declines in state and local sales and use taxes, state gross-receipts taxes, local public service taxes and local government franchise fees. At the same time, property taxes could grow through the installation of more solar-energy systems than would have occurred in the amendment's absence.

"The increase in ad valorem (property) tax revenues is not expected to offset the reductions in other revenue sources," according to the economists' impact statement. "Over time, the ad valorem taxes paid by electric utilities may be lower than otherwise as their need for additional generating capacity is reduced by expanded solar electricity production."

The economists also didn't look at the overall economic impact of allowing small solar systems to be set up or the impact on utility customers.

Floridians for Solar Choice hopes to put the proposed constitutional amendment on the November 2016 ballot. The amendment, in part, would allow businesses to generate and sell up to two megawatts of power to customers on the same or neighboring properties. Two megawatts have been estimated as providing the daily needs of a typical Wal-Mart or residential communities between 225 to 714 homes.

There are currently 234 megawatts of solar energy installed across Florida, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Solar Energy Industries Association, a national trade group.

Last month, Duke Energy, which serves 1.7 million customers from Central Florida through parts of the Panhandle, announced plans to install up to 500 megawatts of utility-scale solar power over the next decade.

Shortly after the announcement was made, the Florida Public Service Commission approved a plan that would lead to Gulf Power Co. buying electricity from major new solar facilities — totaling 120 megawatts — being built at Northwest Florida military bases.

Floridians for Solar Choice counts among its members the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, the Florida Retail Federation, the Florida Solar Energy Industries Association, the Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy, the Christian Coalition of America, the Libertarian Party of Florida, the Republican Liberty Caucus of Tampa Bay and the Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida.

If the Supreme Court signs off on the ballot language, the coalition would need to gather a total of 683,149 signatures to get on the November 2016 ballot. As of Monday afternoon, 86,735 valid signatures had been submitted to the state, according to the Florida Division of Elections website.

As part of an April 24 letter to the court about the ballot initiative, Attorney General Pam Bondi advised the justices they "may wish to consider whether the language of the ballot title and summary will lead to confusion as to the intent of the amendment or otherwise fail to provide voters and consumers with fair notice."