COMMENTARY
MARK SCHUMANN
In advance of last March’s referendum on the sale of Vero Electric to Florida Power & Light proponents of the deal dismissed suggestions that the far from complete contract negotiations would almost surely bog down. That, of course, is exactly what has happened.
The very Florida Municipal Power Agency contract issues which “naysayers” said should be resolved before voters were asked to sign off on a contract are, in fact, proving difficult to resolve.
Pushing for passage of the March referendum, FPL’s local operatives also brushed aside claims that a so-called partial sale of Vero Electric’s 22,000 county customers might be the best and fastest way to achieve rate relief. Their basic argument was that a partial sale is the worst idea since communism.
City Councilwoman Pilar Turner has on more than one occasion said a partial sale is impractical and unworkable on every level. For starters, the public has consistently been told FPL is not interested in acquiring only Vero Electric’s 22,000 customers outside the city limits. The sale would have to be all or nothing, we were assured.
Just yesterday, though, the very same utility activists who last March sought to convince voters a partial sale is an idea void of merit went before the Indian River County state legislative delegation urging Rep. Debbie Mayfield to propose legislation intended to force Vero Beach to hand over its 22,000 county customers.
If, as they claimed last spring, FPL is not interested in taking on these customers, then what other utility company would be interested in serving them? Well, in truth, FPL would be quite pleased to pick up 22,000 new customers, though the company would prefer to have accomplished the gain in a way that also led to the breakup of the FMPA.
Anyone who questions FPL’s interest in 22,000 new customers need only consider the fact that the utility giant recently fought tooth and nail and spent some $500,000 holding on to 7,500 customers in South Daytona.
Listening yesterday to Glenn Heran and Dr. Stephen Faherty urge a “fight” with the FMPA, I could not help but consider that these are the same two utility activists who, in 2009, circulated a financial model projecting Vero Beach would net $150 milllion from the sale of its electric utility. As it turns out, they were off by some $147 million. In fact, if the current deal is concluded, the city will be lucky to walk away with even a few million dollars.
If the legislation Mayfield submits makes it out of committee and onto the floor of the House and the Senate, it will surely face strong opposition from every city with an electric or water and sewer utility. Even if the legislation intended to carve up Vero Beach’s service territory should pass in the Legislature, there is no guarantee the Governor will sign it, or that Public Service Commission will be willing to start rescinding utility service territories.
Ironically, the very power project contracts and wholesale power agreements which now encumber the city and hinder the sale of its electric system were entered into so that Vero Electric could reliably serve all 34,000 customers its current service territory. Other cities are sure to look with a concerned eye on Mayfield’s proposal that the PSC start carving up service territories as if the were a Thanksgiving turkey.
It really is time to stop following Heran and Faherty down one rabbit hole after another. Their financial calculations have been off in the past and their political calculations are wrong now.
The way forward is to continue working cooperatively with the FMPA as the agency evaluates FPL’s latest proposal. A definitive answer from the FMPA board is likely by February or March.
If the members of the joint action agency conclude they simply cannot assume Vero Beach’s obligations at a price and in a way that works for FPL, then it will be time to clear the negotiating table and begin working to conclude a partial sale.
Indian River Guardian 
How does that old expression go? Something like “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive” .
It’s getting pretty convoluted out there!
Debbie Mayfield does not have a particularly good track record in any legislation that she proposes actually becoming a reality. So the likelihood that her Florida legislatures would support her bill to allow a partial sale is a long shot at best.
It is not a bill to “allow” a partial sale, but to force it.
Mayfield is taking her marching orders from Glenn and Steve and this is a big mistake. Look at their sorry record. They were only off the mark by $147 million . We must all remember that Mayfield supported Tracy Carroll last month. Mayfield could do better if not controlled by Glenn and Steve. Something is very wrong in Vero.
It seems that these FPL spokesmen believe that listeners to their promotional chats lack any sort of memory. When their self-created facts change with consistent regularity the only folks who will find their constant adaptations even remotely credible will be their respective reflections in the mirror.
With all due respect to Mrs. Mayfield, it took her two legislative sessions to name a bridge where there was no opposition or any issue of complexity. She may be in over her head on this attempt at legislation, especially since her two previous attempts never made it out of committee.