US city is finally catching up to Europe's method of encouraging solar energy

In the New York Times article "Europe’s Way of Encouraging Solar Power Arrives in the U.S.", there is talk that a certain US city - Gainesville, FL is starting to follow the path of cities in Europe. The city officials of Gainesville decided to pass a mandatory feed in tariff for residential and businesses to develop solar panels on their rooftops and invest in other solar projects while the utilities pays them far more money per kwh than the standard electricity rate for this renewable energy generation. The utilities will have to bear the cost of the expensive renewable energy, so these customers will not be turned away by the expensive costs of installation.

According to Wikipedia, a FEED IN TARIFF is "an incentive structure to encourage the adoption of renewable energy through government legislation. The regional or national electricity utilities are obligated to buy renewable electricity (electricity generated from renewable sources at above market rates set by the government."