Is councilwoman carrying water for FPL?

COMMENTARY

“Nothing would go farther to direct the “bright light of Florida’s Sunshine” on this deal that for FPL to make public all internal documents related to its proposed purchase of Vero Electric. Why is Turner not calling for full disclosure from FPL? Because she knows better than to bite the hand of a political patron.”

MARK SCHUMANN

Frustrated by her failure to persuade fellow city council members to support a local movement to force the dismantling of the Florida Municipal Power Agency, Vero Beach City Councilwoman Pilar Turner is taking her case to the public.

This past weekend, the Press Journal and TCPalm.com published guest commentary by Turner in which she accused her fellow council members of helping the FMPA hide “dark secrets.”

Given the outrageousness of her accusations, it would seem Turner is unconcerned about the veracity of her claims, and equally indifferent to how her behavior will impact council relations.

At the April 21 City Council meeting, Turner was unable to gain support for a resolution calling on the Florida Legislature to require yet another audit of the FMPA. Turner’s proposed resolution mirrored ones adopted by the Indian River County Commission and the Indian River Shores Town Council.

The County and the Shores, remember, are both seeking court intervention to force the breakup of Vero Electric. So, why is Turner collaborating with parties suing the city she claims to serve? Only she can say for sure, but it is worth considering the substantial campaign support Turner received from Florida Power & Light.

Citizens for Better Florida Communities, a local political action group formed to support Turner and Harry Howle in the recent city council election, received half of its total contributions from FPL.

Turner claims her resolution, along with the Shores’ and County’s, would lead to “structured” accountability of the FMPA. Turner did not mention that the FMPA is already accountable to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Florida Public Service Commission, the National Electric Reliability Corporation, the Florida Reliability Coordinating Council, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Florida Electric Power Plant Site Board. Further, the FMPA is accountable to its member cities, all of which are governed by city councils that must answer their constituents.

Importantly, the FMPA, unlike FPL, is also subject to Florida’s open government laws. In contrast, the Florida Sunshine Law does not govern Turner’s friends at FPL – talk about dark secrets.

Unlike FPL, all of the FMPA’s meetings are open to the public. Members of the public are free to address the FMPA board and executive committee. Try gaining unrestricted access to meetings of FPL’s board of directors. It’s not going to happen.

Records and minutes of the FMPA’s board meetings and executive committee meetings are public information. Not so with FPL.

The FMPA is audited annually, and that audit, too, is public information.

So, who’s operating in the dark? Who’s keeping secrets?

Turner is pushing for a valuation of the FMPA’s power generating assets. What Turner and her colleagues at the County, the Shores and FPL are seeking is a price at which Vero Beach could exit the FMPA. Turner, who has had lengthy meetings with the FMPA’s senior financial staff, knows better than to suggest the total cost would simply be some fraction of the value of the agency’s assets.

In the utility industry, power plants are built, not as an investment – like a home – but rather, to serve customers. Power plants have a value to their owners, but they also have a value to the state to enhance reliability to support the grid. When utility power plants are sold, their values are based on a variety of factors, including investment already made, outstanding debt, value in the market, and future liabilities.

In contrast, when a house is sold, the previous owner is relieved of all liability. That is not the case with power plants, which have air and solid waste emissions that must be disposed of properly. Further, power plant owners have the liability to make sure waste and eventual decommissioning are taken care of correctly and legally.

Turner knows all of this, yet she continues to repeat the same talking points being made by the County, the Shores and local utility activists. She knows better!

Turner also knows Vero Beach cannot exit the FMPA without finding another municipal electric utility to assume its share of the output capacity of the three FMPA power projects in which the City participates.

With the economy stagnant and electric demand declining across the state, no one is interested in assuming Vero Beach’s right and responsibility to buy power from the FMPA. There is no willing buyer, and Turner knows it.

In exchange for some $50 million, the Orlando Utilities Commission had expressed a willingness to assume Vero Beach FMPA capacity shares. But the OUC backed out of the deal last year, citing concerns about how the transaction would impact commitments to its bondholders.

In truth, Turner and her friends at FPL want other member cities of the FMPA to take on Vero Beach’s FMPA power capacity shares, as well as Vero Beach’s share of contingent liabilities. Put simply, they hope to force the FMPA’s remaining member cities to allow Vero Beach to walk away from its contractual obligations. In doing so, they seek to create a precedent for FPL purchasing an FMPA member utility – in order to encourage more FMPA members to offer to sell to FPL. The net result would be more customers and profits for FPL, and higher costs for the remaining FMPA member cities.

Though she knows better, Turner continues to claim the FMPA is a “bloated bureaucracy.” FMPA’s administrative costs represent two percent of the agency’s annual budget. The Auditor General raised questions about $20,000 in expenses out of a $600,000,000 budget – for things like office plant service, a Christmas tree and wine purchased on a trip to Washington D.C. According the FMPA officials, these expenses have been cut from their budget, yet Turner continues to harp on a dead issue. She knows better.

One can’t help but wonder how much Turner’s allies at FPL spend each year on office plants, Christmas decorations and entertainment in Tallahassee and Washington D.C. When Turner wrote, “If our Vero Beach City Council won’t do it, I’m asking you to join me as individuals to fight for transparency and accountability,” was she referring to the FMPA or FPL?

Nothing would go farther to direct the “bright light of Florida’s Sunshine” on this deal that for FPL to make public all internal documents related to its proposed purchase of Vero Electric. Why is Turner not calling for full disclosure from FPL? Because she knows better than to bite the hand of a political patron.