COMMENTARY

MARK SCHUMANN

The misinformation campaign continues. Today, the Press Journal published a letter to the editor by a person who wrote, “In the past week I’ve spoken to several small-business owners who are at wit’s end trying to keep their businesses afloat while paying unbelievably high electrical utility rates they cannot afford.”

“People shouldn’t have to be medicated before opening their electric bill. It’s nothing less than financial rape, and it’s shameful,” the writer added.

Vero Electric’s rates are higher than FPL’s, but are they “unbelievably high,” and do they constitute “financial rape?”

Currently, three of the state’s investor-owned utilities charge rates higher than Vero Electric. Allowing for a six percent franchise fee, the statewide average for investor-owned utilities is $128.60 for 1000 kWh, and $117.76 for municipal utilities. Vero Electric’s rate is $123.93, and will be coming down $2.50 in December.

Investor-owned utilities charge rates approved by the PSC. The statewide average for those utilities is higher than Vero Electric, yet the letter writer asserts Vero’s rates amount to “financial rape.”

Another letter writer took exception to the Press Journal’s endorsement of Richard Winger, saying it was “inexplicable.”

“The current City Council, with the exception of Pilar Turner, has done everything in its power to abort the sale. The only way to get rid of the Vero Beach utility company is to get rid of the current incumbents up for re-election,” she wrote.

What “power” does the letter write think the City Council has? After all, the FMPA contracts that stand as an impediment to the sale have been validated by the Florida Supreme Court.

What the current City Council has is the power, and the responsibility, to do what can be done to lower rates. With the exception of Pilar Turner, that is exactly what the Council has done.