COMMENTARY
MARK SCHUMANN
The Indian River Shores Town Council told its outside attorney today that unless their is “substantial progress” by year’s end in the current mediations between the Town and the City of Vero Beach, he should be prepared to prosecute the Town’s lawsuit against the City.
Essentially, the basis of the Shores’ lawsuit is the assertion that the town’s residents have a legal right to the lowest electric rates in the state. The Shores is claiming to have the right to force Vero Beach to remove its electric infrastructure from within the town when the current franchise agreement expires in late 2016. The larger legal question, though, is whether a service territory agreement, approved and regulated by the Florida Public Service Commission, superseded the franchise agreement between the Shores and Vero Beach.
The answer to that question will likely come in early October, when the PSC is expected to respond to the Indian River County Commission’s petition for permission to essentially force Vero Beach to abandon its service in the unincorporated areas of Indian River County when the franchise agreement between the City and the County expires in 2017.
If the PSC rules that service territory agreements are not subordinate to franchise agreements, as every major municipal and investor-owned utility in Florida contends, the central pillar of the Shores legal case against the City will crumble.
At point, there will be little left to do but to work with the City to lower rates.
Indian River Guardian 
Too bad they didn’t pull the trigger last year! I find that it will cost me $9000 plus to replace one of my air conditioners and that if I had FP&L I would save $1100 on a rebate that they give for the high efficiency of the unit. Imagine, I would save two months of Vero’s bills for my house in Indian River Shores. But things could be worse, A “root canal” would cost at least a grand and I would have physical pain as well, look at how blessed I am since I perform excellent dental hygiene, the only pain is the one every month for my donation to Vero Electric!!!
Larry, if you have been limping along with an older, inefficient air conditioner, think of how much you would have saved, if you had replaced it a few years ago. More importantly, consider how much smaller your carbon footprint would have been these past few years.
Let’s assume, for the sake of discussion, there is an electric power company in northwest Washington State currently selling power at a rate lower than FPL. Would you have your Town Council sue for the right to be served by that company? The assertion that a privileged enclave of some of the wealthiest people on the planet has an inherent right to the lowest electric rates in the state is a proposition that is simply not grounded in current utility law.
As a customer of Vero Electric and a loyal subject of the Shores Town Council, you will pay higher electric rates and higher property taxes, if this ill-advised lawsuit goes forward. I suspect even the Shores’ outside legal counsel realized how tenuous is the argument he is putting forward on behalf of the town. The only people who seem not to aware of what a long-shot this threatened lawsuit really is are the five wise men who make up the Shores Town Council and those they have fooled into supporting this misadventure.
Four of the five Shores Council members must subscribe to the same men’s wear magazine. Four of the five are wearing navy blue jackets.. This household sets its thermostat at 77 or 78 degrees. We have one whole-house air conditioner. Our whole-house would doubtless fit inside many of the homes within Vero Beach and the surrounding gated communities. It is 1100 sq ft. That we are gifted with air conditioning, instead of having to rely on a block of ice with a fan behind it, is gratitude enough for me. That we do not have to own snow shovels and snow blowers makes me do a happy dance. That there is generally golf, tennis, and other outside sports all year long…..well, I’ll stay inside in summer and be grateful for my air conditioning. I realize no one likes to hear how back in ’04, we survived two almost back-to-back hurricanes, but it was an experience that showed how valuable our city workers were. It brought back a memory of Chief Gabbard and other members of the Vero PD rescuing folks from the mobile home park on the lagoon. We helped each other. I have heard there used to be a rebate/refund offered by our government for upgrading such appliances. Perhaps it no longer does that. Every now and then we receive an advertisement in the mail from FPL (we’re in the city limits), telling us they offer surge protection for only $9.95 a month. Not saying it will never happen, but so far, we’ve never suffered any loss from an electrical surge. I see no reason to pay an electric provider $120.00 more per year for this “insurance”. If Indian River Shores has the money to spend on this lawsuit, we can’t stop them, but seems like there are far better uses for this money.
The question is, what outside sources convinced the ” fab five” to move ahead with this lawsuit?
My husband Phil is wondering the same thing.
Dear Mark, “NO” the old one is rated at 18 seer, is a Trane and is still being offered today. The only reason for replacement is not the efficiency but any air-conditioner has a life expectancy of only 10 years on the Island, this one is 13 years old. Vero electric does not have a rebate as does FP&L for efficiency, but it does reward its residents with lower taxes and many excellent services that we in Indian River Shores reluctantly pay for as reflected in our high electric bills! Could you imagine my electric bill if my air-conditioner wasn’t 18 seer? At this stage I can only assume there is an electric company offering rebates and rates close to 30% less then what I am paying and yes they are located across the street from me and not 100 miles away! “Your assertion that a privileged enclave of some of the wealthiest people on the planet has an inherent right to the lowest electric rates in the state is a proposition that is simply not grounded in current utility law” is certainly correct, however this is not the case as you well know.
Vero Electric’s rates are currently within the statewide after average for municipal utilities, and below the statewide average for investor-owned utilities. So, yes, my point is valid. The Indian River Shores Town Council seems to believe the residents of Indian River Shores have an inherent right to FPL rates. It would seem the victim-mentality syndrome knows no economic barrier.
The rate differential between Vero Electric and FPL is now 18 percent, not 30 percent, and will likely be reduced further, perhaps significantly further as the City renegotiates with the OUC and moves to decommission the power plant.
Approximately 6 percent, not some larger imagined percentage of your total electric bill goes to the City’s general fund as as return on investment to the City. How many Indian River Shores residents managed to retire comfortably working for companies that did NOT earn a return on investment?
Is your 13-year-old air conditioner, ravaged by salt air, operating to specifications? Not likely.