Bud Chiles is out on the campaign trail for Alex Sink. He will be stopping by our meeting to talk with us about the work we are doing and the future of renewable energy in Florida.
Our meeting is open to anyone who would like to attend. Come join us at:
The Venue – 500 Central Avenue (5th and Central) in the Rosemary District, Sarasota Florida.
Meeting time is 12:30pm today. See you there!
By ANDREW NOUNE
Guest Columnist, reprinted from the Sarasota Herald Tribune
Published: Tuesday, September 21, 2010 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, September 20, 2010 at 4:12 p.m.
Regarding a recent column by Laura Sperling: We do need FPL’s energy umbrella, at least for now. But we can have their service without a franchise agreement that blocks the city’s ability to acquire its own power grid. If the city opened up the energy markets in Sarasota after not signing the FPL contract, renewable energy options and green jobs would be allowed to spring up. In the meantime, without a franchise agreement, we would all save money on our power bills.
The city should fund a feasibility study to look into starting a municipal electric distribution company. City residents give FPL about $87 million a year for energy services. If the city had its own company, some of this money could stay in the community, create jobs locally and help finance the city’s general fund. Setting up a municipal electric company would take at least six years and require raising $90 million to $120 million to buy the city’s power grid from FPL. This could be done though bonds, which are used often to fund the city’s water utility projects.
Other Florida cities have benefited from not having a franchise agreement. The city of Gainesville derives a third of its general fund from the profits of its municipal electric distribution company. Countless Florida communities, including Manatee County, receive equal FPL service without a binding 30-year contract. No franchise fee means a 5.9 percent lower bill for our neighbors to the north.
The City Commission and its financial staff will need to be creative and brave to break away from FPL and rework the budget to function without the franchise fees. A voluntary tax is one way to capitalize on the willingness of many citizens to pay extra for long-term environmental, economic and health benefits. With property values decreasing, the city could also raise the property tax rate without asking for any extra money from its residents. Or, the city could cut its police budget to be on par with other Florida communities. If $5 million came out of the $26 million police budget, Sarasota’s per capita police spending would still be one of the highest in Florida.
I encourage everybody to support the City Commission in requesting a feasibility study for a municipal energy distribution company and ensure that we keep our energy options open for the future.
Andrew Noune lives in Sarasota.
Sarasota City Mayor, Kelly Kirschner, called in to Talk Sarasota – WTMY 1280, hosted by Sherman Baldwin, when his father – Executive Director of the Argus Foundation and former Mayor of Sarasota, Kerry Kirschner was on the show to talk about the FPL franchise agreement.
While both agreed that the City should never have enlisted the franchise fee into the structure of the city budget, there was little else that the two agreed on when it comes to the future of the relationship with the city and FPL.
To listen to the radio podcast: Click here
Sarasota Herald Tribune
Published: Sunday, September 12, 2010 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, September 10, 2010 at 4:51 p.m.
The city of Sarasota certainly knows how to run a utility. The city’s municipal water utility enterprise has been operating for at least 70 years. It offers safe, inexpensive water to all residents.
The city-run utility won the 2009 Wastewater Collection System of the Year Award from the state. Last year it also initiated a Green Jobs Program that takes on six new hires and trains them in a year-long program. The first batch ended with three new full-time employees for the city and three other trained graduates. The program is full again this year. Our successful municipal water department is a brilliant reason to believe the city can do a good job running a utility.
Whether we like it or not, the City Commission is in charge of some of the rules that govern how its residents get all utilities, including electricity. We need to get behind the commissioners and make sure they make good decisions.
Maybe the city should create its own power distribution company. Maybe it shouldn’t. It needs to be looked into by experts with a feasibility study. The great job the city does with its municipal water utility enterprise should be reason enough to warrant further investigation.
Roger Landry
Sarasota
Posted in Citizens comments, Municipal Utility, Press
Right now, the City of Sarasota has to decide whether or not to renew a 30-year agreement with Florida Power and Light (FPL). In addition to the FPL franchise agreement, the city of Sarasota is also considering owning and operating a municipal utility, purchasing our energy from some other source, or just operating without a franchise agreement.
With energy changing so rapidly, local control over electricity promises faster and better adaptation. At Sarasota Power, we know the importance of having a smart, comprehensive plan in place before the city makes this long-term commitment. We feel that before the City can go any further, there has to be an opportunity that promotes forward thinking ideas and a well-rounded discussion to come up with an energy blueprint that will help us transition into the future.
Sarasota Power is asking for ideas that will enable us to implement our own electrical policy. This plan has to work at a local level. It must be locally controlled and locally managed, and it cannot depend on state legislation to make it happen.
Our goal is to answer these following concerns:
How can we best develop a system that allows us to control what kind of electricity we use, foster savings, reduce our carbon footprint, improve reliability, and continue to produce a stream of revenue for our city that will enable us to keep one foot into the future? How do we foster the use of renewable energy and ensure the use of best practices when new technologies become available? And how can we keep ourselves in the best position when renewable energy achieves grid parity – which is predicted to occur within the next few years?
From September 6th, 2010 to October 6th 2010, we will be accepting entries for a comprehensive energy plan for the city. Plans must be well-rounded, all inclusive, and consider not only technical aspects, but what institutions will oversee and run it, and how we will pay for it. As entries are submitted, they will be posted on the website – http://www.SarasotaPower.org for everyone to see.
Visitors to the site will then have the chance to vote on the top 25 entries. At the closing of October 7th, 2010, those 25 entries will be submitted to a panel of experts to determine the top 5 entries. These 5 entries will then be submitted to the City Commission for consideration at the City Commission Meeting of Oct 17th, 2010 when they will also consider the next draft of FPL’s franchise agreement.
For more information and complete guidelines, go to: http://www.SarasotaPower.org or SarasotaPower@gmail.com
Posted in Uncategorized
Sierra Club asks City of Sarasota to wait to sign with FPL
This letter was sent to all City Commissioners
Sent: Saturday, September 25, 2010
Subject: Re: Sierra Club Energy Recommendation
Dear Commissioners,
The Manatee/Sarasota Sierra Group urges you to look into your energy options BEFORE signing a 30-year binding contract with Florida Power & Light. We encourage the Commission to create an Energy Advisory Panel to submit a City Energy Plan and to conduct a feasibility study to look into the city starting a municipal power company BEFORE negotiations are finalized with FPL. Giving up the right to acquire our power grid for another 30 years may not be in the city’s, or its citizens’, best interest and alternatives need to be investigated before they are ruled out with a 30-year franchise contract.
The contract FPL is proposing would commit the residents of Sarasota to a 99% NON-renewable energy plan. FPL currently produces only 1% of its energy from renewable sources and has no plans to increase. The City of Sarasota initially requested that FPL’s portfolio contain 8% renewables by 2015. We encourage the city to stand by these initial requests.
The little renewable energy FPL does produce is done in a way that significantly reduces the benefit to the user. Putting the solar panels where the electricity is needed, like on business and home rooftops, cuts FPL out of the profit loop and is therefore not in FPL’s best interest. As a result, these much-needed and money-saving systems are severely neglected, extremely expensive, and provide only minuscule returns when solar energy is fed back into grid.
Getting the City of Sarasota on the right track for a sustainable future will not happen without action. We all need, and we need our City Commission, to take significant and brave steps toward a renewable and affordable future. Ensuring residents have access to the highest quality of electricity, from sources that can be counted on for decades, should be a top priority when considering energy issues in Sarasota. Please conduct a Municipal Power Company feasibility study and adopt a City Energy Plan BEFORE signing away the right to acquire the city’s power grid for 30 years.
Sincerely,
Gayle Reynolds,
Group Vice-chair
Manatee/Sarasota Sierra Club
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Posted in Citizens comments, FPL franchise negotiations, Uncategorized
Tagged city of Sarasota, fpl franchise agreement, fpl franchise negotiations, Mayor Kelly Kirschner, sierra club