MARK SCHUMANN
In a letter from Amy Brunjes, External Affairs Manager for Florida Power & Light to Vero Beach City Manager, Jim O’Connor, dated yesterday, June 16, she clearly signals FPL’s intent to hold Vero Beach and its rate payers hostage to their original contract and sale agreement. They apparently believe that doing so will give them time to come up with legal and/or legislative means of breaking the long-standing relationship between Vero Beach and the FMPA.
In her letter, Brunjes indicated FPL is willing to consider amendments to the contract including decommissioning of the Vero Electric power plant.
Unfortunately for Vero Beach’s 34,000 rate payers, the City will not be able to renegotiate its 20-year wholesale power agreement with the Orlando Utilities Commission so long as the purchase and sale agreement between Vero Beach and FPL is in force.
From the beginning, FPL’s ultimate objective has not been lower rates for the customers of Vero Electric. What Brunjes’ latest letter confirms is that FPL is using Vero Beach as a pawn in its efforts to find a way to crack the Florida Municipal Power Agency’s contracts with its member cities.
Speaking at an investor conference last year, FPL president and CEO Eric Silagy said one of the utility giant’s growth opportunities was to acquire municipal utilities.
Clearly, Silagy would like to increase FPL’s customer base by marching across the state buying up municipal utilities, starting with Vero Electric. All that is standing in Silagy’s way is the FMPA.
FPL cannot challenge the FMPA contracts directly, which is why the company is using Vero Beach. Anyone who believes Brunjes, Silagy, or anyone else at FPL, cares what people in Vero Beach are paying for power is sorely mistaken.
From: Brunjes, Amy [mailto:Amy.Brunjes@fpl.com]
Sent: June 16, 2014 4:46 PM
To: Vonada, Joyce
Cc: Winger, Richard; Kramer, Jay; Turner, Pilar; Graves, Amelia; Fletcher, Craig; jigoe@edwardswildman.com; ‘Schef Wright’; Bryan, Patrick; ‘jaspuru@ouc.com‘; Richards, Tom; Coment, Wayne; Vock, Tammy
Subject: RE: Letter to FPL – Modification to FPL Asset Purchase Agreement
Jim,
I am in receipt of your letter dated June 12. As we’ve discussed, FPL’s focus remains on a complete sale of the Vero Beach utility and FPL will continue to stand by the agreement that we and the city have signed. Together with the City of Vero Beach, we have invested close to 5 years of time and money to bring lower electric bills to all customers, and we believe that saving customers an estimated $15 million a year is worth continuing the effort to get this done. We still firmly believe a full sale can be completed if all parties are willing and working together in good faith, and we will continue to look for solutions to the problems FMPA has raised.
Since we began this journey in 2009, the typical residential Vero Beach customer has paid nearly $2,000 more largely as a result of high cost contracts between the City and FMPA. We have always been of the view that the contracts with FMPA would need to be cleared through negotiations by the City. FPL went so far as to agree to pay FMPA’s previous request of $52 million and has put forth several fair, reasonable proposals, which we continue to stand by. We would greatly support an effort by the City and FMPA to collaborate on a reasonable solution. Vero Beach customers have been asking for years for lower electric bills, and we would like to work with the City and FMPA to make that happen.
While standing by our agreement to bring lower rates to Vero Beach, FPL also is supportive of the City considering other options to lower its electric rates and we will work reasonably and collaboratively with the City in this effort. Specifically, for example, FPL will work with the City on an amendment to the Purchase and Sale agreement that would allow the City to pursue retiring generating units at the Vero Municipal Power Plant. We also encourage the City to initiate any other discussions it wishes to have in an effort to lower its power costs. But while we encourage the City to consider other ways to lower its power costs, we strongly believe that FPL’s low cost and reliable electric service remains the very best option for the City, its residents and its businesses.
Please keep me updated as to the above mentioned efforts.
Best regards,
Amy
Indian River Guardian 
Wow! And once again let us ignore the fact that FMPA is not interested in letting us out of the contract. It took 5 years to ascertain this fact, not to mention the time and money spent for this “Goose Chase”! Would part of the battle include the research on how and WHO put us into this mess, perhaps a very good place to start. Was there a “compromise” or breach of ethics that could void those FMPA contracts? At this point in time I have had it with Iraq, the Gulf War, trading terrorist hostages who will kill again and FPL! Perhaps winning this war is for all of us to look into solar, that is one positive way of breaking this ridiculous contract!
Why can’t the City tell FPL that we signed an agreement that seems to reasonable people cannot be be completed without (as she says) amending the agreement. We signed this agreement in good faith but with extremely poor judgment. FPL is free to do what it feels must be done but the City will not spend one more dime on something that never should have been signed. Somewhere this madness must stop! Ms. Brunjes mentions the estimated $2000 eachk City customer has overpaid with City rates but fails to mention the almost $2,000,000 we have paid in legal fees to no avail.
Signing on the dotted line before thinking the deal through is coming back to haunt us on a huge scale. Our present and our future don’t appear to belong to us, but to a group of smooth-talking locals, and greedy, big business people, plus the shareholders of FPL. Thanks to all who have placed us in this position. I don’t know if FPL will be able to buy enough backing from folks in Tallahassee or elsewhere (DC?), but it wouldn’t surprise me. Angry? Doggone right I am, and I-along with many others-will not forget how we were betrayed by not only 3 members on the previous City Council but also apparently all members of the current County Board of Commissioners. Since it isn’t possible to go back into the past and change what already is, we CAN concentrate on sweeping aside those who pulled the rug out from under us. Who knows–maybe there is a bright light at the end of this tunnel–and not from FPL.