COMMENTARY
MARK SCHUMANN
Utility activist Steven Faherty’s regular “Utility Update” email blasts are growing increasingly outrageous with each passing week. The more progress Vero Beach officials make in lowering electric rates, the more frustrated and angry Faherty sounds.
First promising Vero Beach voters they would net more than $150 million on the sale of their electric system, Faherty is now seeing his strident, and often misguided advocacy for the power sale come to nothing.
Why is Faherty apparently so troubled that city officials have been able to negotiate better terms to a 20-year wholesale power contract with the Orlando Utilities Commission? After all, the changes will shorten the length of the agreement, save ratepayers some $750,000 a month, and allow the city to decommission the power plant.
Faherty calls these amendments a “new contract.” Amending an existing contract to the benefit of the customers of Vero Electric is hardly the same as entering into a new contract, as Faherty claims. Though sure of himself, Faherty is off base and again wrong.
The fact is that because Vero Beach is making meaningful progress in lowering electric rates, Faherty and his fellow utility activists are beside themselves. They want rates to remain high, so they can continue to argue for the sale of Vero Electric ti FPL.
Below is the full text of Faherty’s latest propaganda piece.
——– Original message ——–
From: Stephen Faherty <fahertydoc@earthlink.net>
Date: 08/30/2015 9:40 AM (GMT-05:00)
To: ‘Stephen Faherty’ <fahertydoc@earthlink.net>
Subject: Utility Update – August 30, 2015
· 476 – Days left before Shores electric franchise with COVB expires (Nov. 5, 2016; County – about 5 months later)
· $102,337,000 – More paid in extra rates (since April 4, 2011!)
· $3,101.12 – More paid per average customer (since April 4, 2011!)
· $66,519,050 – More paid by outside ratepayers (at 65 % of revenue since April 4, 2011!)
· $22,500,000 – Paid by outside ratepayers to City’s budget (About $4.5 M (23-27% of budget) annually since April 4, 2011!)
· $147,000,000 – More paid in extra rates (since April 15, 2008 OUC Contract!)
· $95,550,000 – More paid in extra rates by Outside ratepayers (at 65 % of revenue since April 15, 2008 OUC Contract!)
MARK YOUR CALENDAR!
Tuesday, September 1, 2015, 9:30 am, City Hall – City Council Meeting –
SHOW UP AND MAKE YOUR VIEWS KNOWN ON THE PROPOSED NEW OUC CONTRACT, THE LACK OF INFORMATION AND TRANSPARENCY, QUESTION THE POLITICAL MOTIVATION FOR PUSHING FOR THE CONTRACT THROUGH WITHOUT DUE CONSIDERATION BY THE RATEPAYERS,
AND QUESTION THE POSSIBLE IRNA INFLUENCE ON SOME MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL!
Tuesday, September 15, 2015, 6:00 pm , City Hall – City Council Meeting – VOTE ON NEW OUC CONTRACT (if details available)
LOOKING BACK
City meetings/votes cancelled because of lack of information on NEW OUC CONTRACT
The joint City Finance and Utility Commission meeting scheduled for Monday, August 31, 2015 was canceled because of lack of information on the new OUC Contract proposal. This is not an amended contract as Mayor Winger keeps saying. It is a brand new OUC contract! Why can’t he tell the truth? It also appears that the rate reduction is also not what he stated per the article below!
Is this the 2008 OUC contract debacle again? What is needed is full and open transparency and disclosure with comparisons of the Original 2008 OUC contract, the recent OUC proposals, and the new OUC contract proposal for the public and ratepayers to consider and have an adequate opportunity on which to comment.
Again, I question why the push to get A NEW $1,000,000,000 OUC CONTRACT IN PLACE BY OCTOBER 1, 2015. It has to be politically motivated to try and get something for the two City Council incumbents – Winger and Graves – to show their supporters (IRNA?) for the November elections. AND AT WHOSE EXPENSE!? All ratepayer are still paying excessively for the 2008 OUC contract mistakes by the City! Thank the 2008 City Council members for that 2008 OUC Contract – Tom White, Sabe Abel, Debra Fromang, Bill Fish and Ken Daige.
Will we have to thank Council members Dick Winger, Amelia Graves, Jay Kramer, and Randy Old for the 2015 OUC contract disaster?
SHOW UP AT THE NEXT CITY COUNCIL MEETING ON TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2015, 9:30 AM AT CITY HALL AND SPEAK YOUR MIND ABOUT THE IMPENDING NEW OUC CONTRACT DISASTER THE MAJORITY OF THIS CITY COUNCIL IS ABOUT TO CREATE!
Treasure Coast electric utilities prepared for Hurricanes
Steve Faherty
Indian River Guardian 
Did anyone ever wonder how much higher our electric rates would be if the city had stayed with FMPA instead of going with OUC?
Actually, Jeanette, because the FMPA’s All Requirements Project’s generation is much more fueled by natural gas, the rates would be better than those now being charged by OUC. The fundamental mistake seems to be to put so many eggs in one basket, so to speak. In retrospect, it may have been better in 2009 to have entered into laddered contracts, with staggered terms of expiration. We live and we learn.