NEWS ANALYSIS
MARK SCHUMANN
At its meeting yesterday, the Indian River County Commission hired the lobbying firm of Ballard Partners to work through the Florida Legislature to encourage the Florida Municipal Power Agency to agree to contract concessions that would enable Vero Beach to sell its electric system to FPL. The lobbying firm headed by Brian Ballard, a former spokesman for then-Gov. Bob Martinez. Ballard is also a son-in-law of former Florida Secretary of State Jim Smith. Ballard’s firm will be paid $78,000 for its first year of work on behalf of the County.
Though one news report indicated Ballard Partners will be working with the FMPA, in truth the firm will be lobbying members of the Florida Legislature to encourage them to pressure the FMPA to make concessions to its contracts.
Committing to bring lobbying pressure to bear on the FMPA, just three days before the agency is to give its answer to FPL’s latest proposal, may be a stroke of genius, or it may turn out to be another nail in the coffin of a deal that has proved far more complicated and expensive to negotiation that any of its most ardent proponents had expected.
Utility activist Glenn Heran advised the Commission on its selection of a lobbing firm. The Commission also approved travel expenses for Heran and fellow utility activist Stephen Faherty, should they go to Tallahassee to work with Ballard.
The Florida Municipal Power Agency was formed by an act of the Florida Legislature in 1978, with Vero Beach as one of its charter members. The agency now has 31 members. Like other joint action agencies around the county, the FMPA is a non-profit consortium of municipalities and electric cooperatives working collectively to buy power wholesale and to jointly finance and operate generating plants.
Across the county, more than 2,000 municipalities own and operate electric utilities. Proponents of public power say the opportunity to exercise local control and the ability to use profits to help support local government services are two of the biggest advantages of municipal power.
Opponents, such as Heran, argue that investor-owned utilities such as Florida Power & Light are more efficient and can offer lower rates. In their view, the rate savings far outweigh any benefits that might come from local control. The FMPA, Heran insists, is “an institution of inefficiency.”
As a member of the FMPA, Vero Beach has contractual obligations to its fellow members, as well as to the agency’s bondholders. In total, the city has four contracts with the FPMA, three covering its participation in power projects and one governing its membership in the All Requirements Project.
Amending these contracts, or canceling them and allowing the Orlando Utilities Commission to take on Vero Beach’s obligations, will require the approval of every signatory. Finding a way for the city to shed its contractual obligations to the FMPA is now the biggest hurdle in structuring and closing a deal with FPL.
One of the challenges for the FMPA in agreeing to contract concessions, though, is that the soundness of its business model and the creditworthiness of its bonds rest on the strength of its contracts. Decisions to participate in power projects and wholesale power contracts are long-term, multi-million dollar commitments. One FMPA spokesman explained that entering into a contract with a joint action agency is more like getting married, rather than simply choosing to live together with someone for a while to see how the relationship might develop.
In addition to needing FMPA approval, the deal between Vero Beach and FPL much also be approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Florida Public Service Commission.
Indian River Guardian 
The real problems in regard to the utility sale are going to come from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) which is non-partisan Federal organization The people that I know who joined the agency at its formation prided themselves on working for the public’s interest rather than the business interest. The kind of review that will be conducted at FERC will NOT be influenced by any lobbyist.
Giving your money to a lobbyist rarely achieves a value-added outcome.
So, FPL would not accept just taking the county customers from city utility and county residents did nothing to get themselves added to the city so they’d have an honest, legal way to make things change…..and the troika couldn’t be talked into reducing the cost of city power to its customers and increasing property tax to a still-bearable rate….. No, it has to be complicated, time-consuming, costly, and otherwise detrimental to all of us. And we are paying travel expenses for Heran and Faherty because WHY? Son of a pioneer (S.O.A.P.)
I do not think the legislature will fall for the Heran and Faherty logic or numbers. Some on our city council were influenced by this duo, however, they are in over their heads when they leave Indian River County. A rumor persists that the wife of a newspaper big shot is pushing the sale to FP&L. Does anyone know if this true? .
No rumor, Frank. Amy Brunjes, the wife of Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers publisher, Bob Brunjes, is a key FPL employee. Amy Brunjes has been a point person in the utility giant’s dealing with the City of Vero Beach and in its public relations, and political efforts to built support for the sale. For example, last March FPL contributed $100,000 to Citizens for a Brighter Future, a political action committee headed by utility activist Glenn Heran. Nearly $30,000 remains in the Heran-controlled account. Despite what Charley Wilson has claimed, Heran will be free to use that money to aid Carroll in her campaign for re-election. When Wilson claims otherwise, he is either attempting to mislead the public, or he is demonstrating FURTHER ignorance of campaign and election laws.
With her recent votes on the council such as the attempt to give away the dog park, etc. She will need every penny of FP&L money to get re-elected. Nobody I speak to likes her. In person and on tv her terrible behavior comes thru loud and clear. Lets not forget her weeky rentals and its impact on our neighborhoods.For that one issue alone she must go !
Citizens for a Brighter Future will be doing a ton of slick mailings for Carroll to help her win the election and these mailings will be very effective to the “63” zip code crowd who are low information voters. They are not interested in the local crowd or the local concerns about how the city will survive without the profits from the Electric Utility going into the general fund. They couldn’t care less about recreation, etc. They probably have Nextel Energy in their stock portfolios and they look forward to “liberating” that ugly power plant off the river. Just remember, these are the people the PAC will be targeting….not the handful of locals who will be following the election. The crowd who will be getting her slick mailings just happen to be “the” biggest voting block in the city. It certainly is not Ken Daiges neighbors…I can tell you that.
Tracy Carroll plays to that crowd and she certainly does have the help and support of Amy Brunjes and her husband at the newspaper.
Carroll has nothing to lose….If she wins the election the “troika” will probably elect her mayor and if she loses she will probably get a big fat job with FPL. Just saying.
Number of 32960 mainland zip code registered voters in the City of Vero Beach – 6,406
Number of 32963 beachside zip code registered voters in the City of Vero Beach – 4,130
Difference between those two numbers – 2,276
There are 2,276 more registered voters on the mainland.
But who will vote?
I will vote. I always vote.