INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The Board of County Commissioners Tuesday made official what has been its known position for some time by passing a unanimous resolution supporting the sale of Vero Beach’s electric utility to Florida Power and Light.
The action came after FPL spokeswoman Amy Brunjes updated the commission on the latest iteration of the proposed contract between the company and Vero Beach.
She said FPL is now willing to pay nearly $179 million for the utility. It will also guarantee at least two years employment for 92 electric utility employees and take over their pension liability, and lease the electric plant site at 17th Street and Indian River Boulevard for two years for $1.5 million instead $1 million as proposed under an earlier version of the contract.
She said FPL will pay to tear down and remove the electric plant and pay up to $500,000 for environmental remediation at the site.
Her appearance was in part an effort to forestall Vero Beach Council members from prolonging negotiations further.
Currently, the Vero Beach City Council has a Feb. 12 workshop planned to go over details of the contract in public. That is scheduled to be followed by a vote on the contract by the council on Feb. 17, with approval, if the vote goes that way, contingent on public support for the sale in a March 12 referendum.
Brunjes said there was no sense putting off the moment when the rubber hits the road any longer.
“This has been a long road,” she said. “We have been negotiating for more than two years. We are in the home stretch. The deal is the deal at this point.”
Brunjes acknowledged Vero would lose $6.9 million in revenue from electric sales that it now uses to run to provide city services, but various fees and other considerations would make up half of that revenue.
She said city residents would save $10 million a year in lower electric costs and that if the city had to raise taxes to make up for its net $3.5-million revenue shortfall, residents would still be coming out nearly $7 million ahead.
According to Brunjes, if the sale to FPL were to go through, Indian River Medical Center and Indian River Shores residents would both save $3 million due to lower energy costs, while Piper Aircraft would save approximately $600,000.
Commissioners spoke favorably about the advantages the city and county would enjoy with lower electric rates in the areas where the city now provides service.
Commissioner Bob Solari, who offered the resolution, said there would be a countywide savings of $25 million that he believed would help create jobs through business expansion encouraged by lower costs.
Commission Chairman Joe Flescher, who seconded the motion, expressed gratitude to Charlie Wilson and Glenn Heran, who were in the chamber, for their early and effective advocacy for the utility sale.
“You said this had to happen and you were right,” Flescher said.
