Reprinted from City Email:
Dear Commissioners,
I myself met with Mel Kline and Rae Dowling yesterday to discuss the franchise agreement. The meeting was initiated by Rae and was in response to an email inquiry I had sent FP&L via Nick Gladding. The questions posed can be seen below in the attached email.
In discussing the issue of the franchise agreement with FP&L, the issue became more clear to me than ever. In my opinion, the conversation should be focusing around questions 1 and 2 below.
1. What is the benefit to the citizens of Sarasota in signing a Franchise Agreement with FP&L?
o The fact is we the citizens receive no benefit. It ties us into a contract that we have no incentive to initiate. In the short term not renewing the franchise agreement would actually mean my electric bill would be decrease by around 6%.
o The government does receive a benefit in signing the agreement in that it makes their duties a little easier because they can continue to tax the citizens in our area through the franchise fee and continue to pursue a “business as usual” mentality. In my opinion, this is not a good reason for signing the agreement. An as a city resident, I will not vote in the future for any commissioner who accepts a 30 year franchise agreement from FP&L.
o FP&L on the other hand has great benefits from the city signing such an agreement. It guarantees that for the next 30 years we will continue to allow them to have exclusive rights to providing power to our community…now that they can “take to the bank”.
2. Isn’t FP&L required by DCA (via the PSC) to provide power to us whether or not a Franchise Agreement is instated? The answer to that question is yes, FP&L will still be providing us with power and the same level of service whether or not we have a franchise agreement (just like Manatee County has no agreement). I would like to point out if there is no franchise agreement, we would have the opportunity to consider becoming a public utility at any time we feel it is an appropriate avenue to pursue.
My understanding in listening to comments by Commissioner Turner at the recent commission meeting is that you (FP&L) are unsure of “who is running the show”? Well, I hope the show is being run by concerned citizens that are using their rights in a democratic society to voice their opinion and bring about real change. I am very hopeful the ability to execute this right will continue.
At the request of Rae Dowling and Mel Kline, I looked at the back of my bill for how the Franchise charge is defined. “Franchise Charge: A fee to local governments that we have an agreement with in order to provide electricity to their area”. I would venture to say this is a severely limited statement and almost deceptive. The agreement has nothing to do with the fact that the fee is needed “in order to provide electricity to their area”. The electricity would be provided regardless of whether the Franchise Agreement, or associated fee, was in place. That is not obvious from the statement description.
I see no reason for the City Government, as my representative, should enter into a franchise agreement. If they were to enter into an agreement, I feel the only acceptable term would be a 5 year agreement. With market conditions changing almost daily, I cannot feasibly see how we could commit to a 30 year agreement. If FP&L truly wants to “partner”, they should understand this position and welcome the implied challenges in having a shorter term agreement. Let’s look at history, 30 years ago when the last franchise agreement was initiated there was a huge push from the White House to diversify our countries power production and switch to forms of renewable energy. FP&L has had 30 years to make changes to the way they have been producing and distributing power in our area and I am disappointed with many of the choices they have made. Maybe we can facilitate change by taking a stand now and causing FP&L to wake-up and realize the “business as usual” mentality has no place in our community!
Thank you for taking the time to review this email and my concerns. I look forward to seeing you at the next PUBLIC meeting.
Sincerely,
Roger Landry, LEED® AP
