BY MARK SCHUMANN

Public Works Director and former interim city manager Monte Falls will fill in for City Manager Jim O’Connor at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, as O’Connor joins representatives of Florida Power & Light in Washington D.C. for closed meetings with members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

One of the hurdles the proposed sale of Vero Electric must clear is the FERC.  In a letter to O’Connor requesting his participation in Tuesday’s planned meetings with the FERC, FPL’s Ryan Fair wrote, “We believe it is important for the City to be represented at these meetings when the transaction is discussed to ensure that FERC commissioners and staff have the benefit of complete factual information.”

The FERC will be considering any possible impact on rates, as well as competitive issues having to do with control of wholesale power.

Recent comments made by FPL’s C.E.O. Eric Silagy to a group of investors indicate the company is interested in expanding its customer base through acquisitions and new wholesale power agreements with other municipally owned utilities.

Silagy’s claim that Gov. Scott is helping in this effort has raised eyebrows in the Florida’s municipal power community.  “One of the things that’s happened is I’ve now got the governor of Florida going around to the munis saying, ‘Why aren’t you selling yourself to FPL?’,” Silagy said.

In the last 1970s, when the city and FPL last got close to making a deal, the U.S. Department of Justice stepped in raising antitrust concerns.  As a result of the Justice Department’s objections, FPL backed away from the deal.

Tuesday’s meetings in Washington are essentially preliminary, since no formal filing has been made.  Once the city and FPL file for FERC review of the sale, the commission will have 180 to render a decision.