On Wednesday, October 11th, the City should get a copy of the Purchase and Sales Agreement from Florida Power and Light to buy all or a portion of Vero Electric. The City Council hopes to vote on the matter at its regularly scheduled meeting on October 17th at 6:00 pm.
This is a major event for the city and I am 100% in favor of its successful completion.
For as long as city residents can remember, Vero Beach has been in and out of negotiations with Florida Power and Light (FP&L) and the Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) to sell Vero’s electric business. On Wednesday, a definitive agreement is expected.
The agreement will lay out the terms of a sale to FP&L of either the complete Vero Electric business or the sale of Indian River Shores portion of Vero Electric, with no exit clause, which means that one of the transactions will be concluded.
That’s only half of the Job
The sale was hard to accomplish, but the City Council will now face the difficult job of minimizing negative effects of the sale on the City, such as a significant increase in taxes.
The consequences of the sale, be it whole or partial, are significant and should have been studied long ago, but they need concentrated attention now. It will take time, planning, and experienced heads to set a new course.
My position
I am pro sale, plain and simple.
First of all, an electric utility is a complicated business for a municipality to run, and our City has made significant mistakes to prove that very point. Furthermore, the ratepayers of Vero Electric are angered by rates higher than FPL’s, and a majority of residents have voted to sell the utility.
This has been an exceedingly toxic and very complicated subject, and one that everyone wants concluded, almost to the point where the terms do not matter. I look forward to the end of this divisive issue.
The sale negotiations are almost complete but the transaction will have ramifications. I feel my long and varied background in finance provides me with the skills suitable to problem-solve the new challenges the sale will present to our City.
I ask for your vote on November 7th. Thank you for your support.
Randy Old
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