Representative Paige Kreegel:                                                                                                    April 20, 2011

From today’s (April 20) article in the Charlotte Sun, we understand the bills (HB 7217 and SB 7217) to allow Florida power companies to build renewable energy projects and charge their entire customer base to pay for these projects, is hung up in the House State Affairs Committee. It appears there currently are enough politicians who believe that the customer base of power utilities should not be forced, against their will, to finance very high cost renewable energy sources via higher electrical utility rate increases.

We noted in the article you are supporting such higher utility rates because you believe the Babcock Ranch (which now cleverly has been transformed into a renewable energy community project) could represent the “spark that gets things going economically.”

We do not subscribe to that optimistic (and we believed flawed) speculation for we believe strongly that such proposed legislation simply represents a bailout attempt of the Syd Kitson/Evergreen Real Estate Partners’ group to save their Babcock Ranch investment, which is in deep trouble given the horrendous economic conditions in the commercial real estate industry. Kitson/Evergreen got caught in the huge economic downdraft and being very clever developers/investors they looked for anything that might bail them out. Voila, the hype on alternative energy was the answer, But, they needed a group of gulls to provide indirect capital financing for their plan (which included construction of a solar power plant at Babcock Ranch), and that bunch of gulls was ended up in their plan as the utility customers of Florida power companies. Florida Power and Light, our electrical provider, was selected as Kitson’s partner in crime and FPL readily bought into the deal given the free financing involved and whatever additional under the table deals which were cut between the parties.

Rep. Kreegel, given the economic conditions in the country (meager GNP generation- IMF just reduced their GDP 2011 projection to just 1.4%; inflation climbing rapidly for commodities/gasoline thereby driving up most end product costs; food costs soaring because, thanks to George Bush, a huge percentage of our corn crops are being used for very expensive ethanol fuel, which cannot exist without big governmental subsidies; interest rates now rising steadily from historically low levels as concocted via destructive FRS policies; true underemployment exceeding 17.5% of our workforce; no growth in real wages; millions more of American jobs in the process of being shipped overseas do to rampantly expanding governmental regulation); and out of control budgets and debt addition conditions in D.C. and several states), the commercial real estate market will not be viable in the foreseeable future. These are not the economics which will make Babcock Ranch economically viable for many years and therefore a bailout, via Florida government would be unconscionable.

Additionally, to saddle a large portion of Florida’s populace (i.e. fixed income seniors) with higher utility bill expense for such a purpose would be outrageous.

We like the comments in the Sun article by Senator Bennett, who states he believes any Florida power companies, which want to build renewable energy plants, should look to the private, free market sector, not governmental dictates putting the financing onus on utility customers. Over the long run, we strongly believe FPL’s power plants/utility customers would be better served if the plants were 100% natural gas powered for natural gas is an energy source where the country now has over 300 years of supply and the cost of which will remain very “reasonable” for many years to come given the country’s vast reserves of this energy source.

Under such circumstances, our State Government BETTER NOT be an accomplice in a Kitson group bailout for the citizens of this country are totally fed up with bailouts.  Under the realities of the situation, we expect you to vote NAY on any such legislative attempt to have the utility customers in Florida pay for the seed money required by very high cost renewable energy sources, even if the bill puts oversight responsibility of such renewable energy projects in the hands of the Public Service Commission, for the State should have no part in this charade.

William G. Bigelow

Margo A. Bigelow

cc: Representative Kenneth Roberson

     Senator Nancy Detert

     House State Affairs Committee