Mayors Sawnick, Kramer and Winger lowered rates a combined 35.2 percent

COMMENTARY

“Think of all the time, effort and aggravation that could have been saved and avoided if, instead of spending $2 million to negotiate a flawed contract with FPL, Turner, Fletcher and former councilwoman Tracy Carroll had simply run $2 million in currency through a paper shredder.”

MARK SCHUMANN

Listening to Florida Power & Light Vice President of External Affairs, Amy Brunjes, one could easily get the impression she and FPL president Eric Silagy wake up each morning with one and only one question on their minds. How to lower electric rates for the people of Vero Beach?

Ironically, though, FPL has consistently endorsed and supported candidates for the Vero Beach City Council who have presided over rate increases, namely Pilar Turner, Craig Fletcher and Tracy Carroll. The powerful utility giant has also been critical of and combative with members of the city council who have worked to reduce rates for the customers of Vero Electric, including Jay Kramer and Richard Winger.

Though the deal will lead to a rate reduction of 6 percent or more, Turner is opposing a renegotiated wholesale power agreement with the Orlando Utilities Commission. When Turner is not in a position to raise rates, she attempts to block rate reductions. FPL’s lone puppet on the city council has certainly not turned out to be a friend of the electric customer.

Turner, the council’s one outlier, is now looking for new allies to support her is raising rates to bolstering the case for somehow selling Vero Electric to FPL. Failing a sale of the full system, Turner is prepared to begin handing over Vero Electric to FPL piece meal, starting with the Indian River Shores customer base. The move would undoubtedly lead to higher rates for the city’s remaining customers, a consequence which seems not to trouble Turner in the least.

Just yesterday, candidate Harry Howle’s high-priced, Tallahassee-based handlers issues a press release announcing “news” that Turner is endorsing Howle in his second bid for a seat on the city council. “Harry Howle is a strong conservative who believes in limited government,” said Turner. “His presence will make an immediate positive impact on the Vero Beach City Council.”

What “impact” is Turner referring to when she speaks of what Howle could do to help her on the council? Heaven help the customers of Vero Electric if candidates Harry Howle and Laura Moss join Turner in forming a new troika allied with FPL. Rates will surely rise, and just as surely the meter for $500-hour transaction attorney John Igoe and his law firm will again start ticking.

Igoe and company have already charged the city some $2 million to negotiate a purchase and sale agreement with FPL. Though a number of key issues remained unresolved, that agreement was put before voters in the spring of 2013. FPL invested no less than $100,000 to persuade Vero Beach voters to approve the deal, even with its numerous blank and holes.

The move came back to bit FPL and its council allies, when they had to propose an amendment to the contract that would have imposed a $26 million surcharge on the customers of Vero Electric. Even before the consequences of the surcharge could be considered by the city’s Finance Commission and Utilities Commission, Turner announced her support for adding another $26 million to the cost of the deal.

Now even FPL officials admit the deal as structured cannot go forward, not even with the $26 million surcharge. In fact, FPL officials claim to be without any new ideas for how to resolve Vero Beach’s contractual obligations to the Florida Municipal Power Agency; and they have been unable to name a qualified buyer, other than the Orlando Utilities Commission, to take on Vero Beach’s FMPA commitments.  OUC leaders have made it clear they no longer want to be a party to the deal.

Think of all the time, effort and aggravation that could have been saved and avoided if, instead of spending $2 million to negotiate a flawed contract with FPL, Turner, Fletcher and former councilwoman Tracy Carroll had simply run $2 million in currency through a paper shredder.

Over the past decade, Vero Electric’s rate for 1000 kWh hours of residential power has varied from a low of $109.14 under Jay Kramer’s tenure as mayor, to a high of $130.93 with Turner at the helm. Rates also went up under Turner’s successor, fellow FPL ally Craig Fletcher.

In contrast to Turner and Fletcher, under mayors Kevin Sawnik, Jay Kramer and Richard Winger electric rates when down a combined 35.3 percent: 26.2 percent under Sawnick, 2.3 percent under Kramer and 6.7 percent under Winger.

It is ironic that Turner claims to be looking out for the customers of Vero Electric, when all she has ever managed to do was to preside over rate increases. Now she wants voters to elect Howle and Moss to help her. Vero Electric’s customers must be asking themselves, “With friends like Turner who needs enemies?”

The table below presents Vero Electric’s rate history back to July, 2005.