COMMENTARY

“Their choice is also between accepting a reasonably offer, or squandering perhaps millions of dollars in a legal battle that could leave Shores residents paying high taxes, and higher electric rates.”

MARK SCHUMANN

Tomorrow morning at a meeting to begin at 8 a.m., the Indian River Shores Town Council, led by Mayor Brian Barefoot, is poised to make what may turn out to be the most expensive mistake in the Town’s history.

Barefoot and his colleagues will consider ordinance designed to confer upon the Town Council the authority to establish electric rates. Following the final reading of the ordinance, Barefoot and his fellow council members are expected to vote on the measure.

If the Shores Town Council goes forward with this unprecedented move, it will be further evidence that Town leaders considers Indian River Shores, not a municipality chartered by and governed under the laws of the State of Florida, but rather an independent principality, ruled by five wealthy white men, who appear increasingly disconnected from reality.

Barefoot and his fellow council members, who seems hell-bent on squandering the town’s wealth, have already sunk more than $500,000 into an in-conceived and poorly-reasonaed lawsuit that seeks to overturn well-established utility law.

And what is the objective of the Shores Town Council? Quite simply, they will accept nothing less than electric rates comparable to rates charged by Florida Power & Light. Their truly bizarre position is that the only reasonable rate for them to pay would be the lowest rates being charged anywhere in the state.

This claim to an inherent right to the lowest electric rate approved by the PSC flies in the face of reason. In oder to provide for an economical and reliable statewide power grid, the Florida Legislature in 1978 gave the PSC the sole and superior authority to establish electric service territories. The PSC is also responsible for regulating the state’s five investor-owned utilities, including establishing their rates.

Currently, the PSC has approved rates for investor-owned utilities ranging from $94.78 to $136.50 per kWh. The statewide average for investor-owned utilities is $121.20.  Municipal utilities, which are not regulated by the PSC, have a statewide average of $118.24.  These rates typically include a transfer of 6 percent or more to each city’s general operating fund.

Though Vero Electric’s current rate of $123.93 is below rates the PSC has approved for investor-owned utilities, Barefoot and company insist the rate is unreasonable.  As a “remedy,” the Shores Town Council plans to establish itself as a rate-setting authority.

In response, Vero Beach leaders this week invited the Shores Town Council to join them in seeking PSC review of and approval for the city’s electric rates.

When the Shores received Vero Beach’s offer yesterday, Mayor Brian Barefoot must have thought, “What a revoltin’ development this is!” Now he and his fellow council members must choose between accepting a rational proposal, or passing a resolution that, if ultimately intended to force Vero Beach to charge rates no higher than FPL,  may well violate the Florida Constitution, and possibly even United States Constitution. Their choice is also between accepting a reasonably offer, or squandering perhaps millions of dollars in a legal battle that could leave Shores residents paying high taxes, and higher electric rates.