MARK SCHUMANN
Vero Beach City Manager Jim O’Connor is projecting it will cost $1.6 million over the previous and current fiscal years to bring down “Big Blue,” the City’s now idle power plant. O’Connors estimates were emailed to City Council members yesterday.
Given abundant access to more efficiently generated and less expensive wholesale power, City leaders last year decided to decommission the power plant. Savings from closing the plant are expected to be several million dollars a year.
The cost-cutting move was made possible when City leaders successfully re-negotiated contract terms with the Orlando Utilities Commission. That revised agreement, including the savings from shutting down “Big Blue,” is projected to reduce total monthly billings for Vero Electric by $750,000.
Still, there are some detractors to the City’s new deal with the Orlando Utilities Commission. Councilwoman Pilar Turner opposed it, as did Harry Howle. Utility activist, Steven Faherty, also opposed seeking more favorable terms with the OUC, as continues to oppose efforts to lower electric rates.
Ironically, though Turner claims to be a champion of electric rate payers, rates increased when she was in the Council majority. Over Turner’s persistant objections, a new council majority, including Jay Kramer, Randy Old and Richard Winger have managed to reduce electric rates.
In a recent email newsletter he titles “Utility Update,” Faherty claimed the City will need to spend $8 million to $20 million relocating the existing substation located at the intersection of 17th Street and Indian River Drive. In truth, there are no plans to move the substation.
Indian River Guardian 
Isn’t Faherty part of the crew that said the city would profit hundreds of millions from the sale of the electric company? It seems his calculator is still not functioning properly. Or is it the person putting in the numbers?
On Friday, June 10, 2016 the Vero Press Journal had an article about the rail tracks and on the impact on the St. Lucie nuclear power plant. Unfortunately there was only one small paragraph about my former employer, Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The reality is that the NRC would require a formal submission in the form of a revised Emergency Plant. A significant part of the new Emergency Plant would require the officials of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to conduct an independent evacuation plant.