VERO BEACH — More than 100 people gathered Saturday morning over breakfast to get better acquainted with the company trying to purchase Vero Beach Electric.
Representatives from Florida Power and Light and the Indian River Tea Party co-hosted the event at The Club at Pointe West to educate the public about the electric sale. The local Tea Party leaders came out early on as being supportive of a sale if it would result in efficiencies and in smaller government.
Local luxury home contractor Toby Hill, who founded the Indian River Tea Party with a handful of other businessmen, introduced FPL External Affairs Director Amy Brunjes and emphasized the importance of the sale to the upcoming Vero Beach City Council election.The Indian River Tea Party will host a candidate forum on Sept. 27 at the Vero Beach High School Performing Arts Center.
“I think we can all figure out probably what the issue of the day will be,” Hill said.
Generally, city employees have been against the idea of a sale, even though the deal on the table ensures their jobs for two years after a closing and gives employees an opportunity to compete for a permanent job with FPL.
About a dozen city electric employees showed up at the forum and a couple of them asked questions of Brunjes. New Vero City Manager Jom O’Connor was also in attendance.
After a slideshow presentation, FPL officials took questions from the audience. Queries ranged in topic from long-term rate projections to “smart” meters to plans for the big blue power plant.
For the first time, Brunjes in public estimated that FPL would need to keep the Vero Beach Power Plant operational for about five years while FPL makes extensive transmission upgrades.
Brunjes also made it clear that the property the power plant sits on, after being leased to FPL should a referendum pass allowing the city to do so, would revert back to Vero to use how it sees fit.
The presentation pointed out FPL’s market share in Florida, the cleanliness of its power plants, reliability, hurricane preparedness and FPL’s efforts to integrate green energy from solar and other sources to keep the costs of power low.
FPL currently has 51,000 customers in Indian River County and employs 137 county residents. The purchase of the Vero system would add another 34,000 customers to FPL’s portfolio.
The rates charged by FPL are the lowest in Florida, with Vero Beach being about 20 percent higher than FPL right now, with 10 to 15 percent rate hikes coming later this summer and fall.
The Vero Beach City Council voted that it is the policy of the city to sell the electric utility and to hammer out a deal that is good for the taxpayers of the City of Vero Beach. The city, its consultants and its attorneys are in the process of performing necessary due diligence toward a sale.
Brunjes said FPL hopes to have an offer on the table by this fall. FPL sent Vero a Letter of Intent in April. That letter outlined the intention to purchase the system, take on its employees for two years and to assume $14 million in pension liability for those employees.
The price in that letter of intent, which was later removed from the letter by the city council, was up to $100 million cash.
The city is waiting on its consultant, GAI, to come back with an appraisal of the system. That report from GAI is expected to how up at City Hall in late August.