COMMENTARY
“FPL Vice President Amy Brunjes speaks of acting in good faith. If she and her colleagues at FPL, including CEO Eric Silagy, were acting in good faith, they would acknowledge the dead is done. There is nothing but a measure of spite to be gained from holding Vero Beach hostage.”
MARK SCHUMANN
A June 26 report by island weekly writer, Lisa Zahner, would leave readers to believe outside attorneys hired by the City are dragging out the power sale saga? The island weekly’s report was headlined, “Electric deal dead; attorneys continue to pick at carcass.”
In truth, though, when the attorneys reported to the City Council that “they” were not ready to throw in the towel, the attorneys were referring, not to themselves, but to executives at Florida Power & Light.
Having championed FPL’s effort to acquire Vero Electric every step of the way, Zahner now seems loath to admit that it is the utility giant, and not the City or its attorneys, who is refusing to bring an end to the failed power sale negotiations.
Zahner reported on negotiations now taking place between the Orlando Utilities Commission, Vero Beach and FPL, but did not explain that those negotiations are only made necessary by FPL’s refusal to admit the obvious.
In addition to running up Vero Beach’s legal bills by insisting on keeping the 2013 purchase and sale agreement in force until December 31, 2916, FPL is putting Vero Beach’s 34,000 rate payers in a position where they may have to pay up to $46 million for Vero Electric to exit the Florida Municipal Power Agency’s All Requirements Project.
Without a contract in force between Vero Beach and FPL, the City would be free to mothball the power plant, renegotiate its wholesale power agreement with the OUC and work with FMPA leaders to rescind the City’s request to withdrawal from the ARP.
Because the City’s membership in the ARP is codified by a 20-year evergreen contract, and because the City has already reduced its ARP contract of delivery to zero, there is, despite Zahner’s arguments to the contrary, no logical reason for the City to buy its way out of the ARP by paying for nearly $50 million in stranded costs.
Zahner and her editors are doing a masterful job of avoiding any reporting that is critical of FPL, but the fact remains the “fine” folks from Juno Beach do not have the best interests of Vero Beach at heart.
One notable exception to the island weekly’s pattern of running interference for FPL was this week’s “32963 Insight Editorial,” calling on FPL to release Vero Beach from a contract which clearly cannot be executed.
FPL Vice President Amy Brunjes speaks of acting in good faith. If she and her colleagues at FPL, including CEO Eric Silagy, were acting in good faith, they would acknowledge the dead is done. There is nothing but a measure of spite to be gained from holding Vero Beach hostage.
Indian River Guardian 
Do you think the reason Silagy is dragging this out is because his bosses are asking him the same questions we are asking Fletcher, Turner and Carroll “why did we spend millions of dollars on attorneys, employee’s time and all this energy trying to put together a sale that everyone else knew was impossible to complete”? He might not be fired if he assures them there is a possibility of it being completed. At least with Turner and Fletcher, just like with Carroll we can “fire” them by electing some one else to city council.