Along with work sessions and budget meetings, one of the things that Commissioners do is attend a couple of different conferences on behalf of the city. This week, I am learning more about public power at the Florida Municipal Electric Association conference in Bonita Springs. 

FMEA is an association of municipalities that own and operate their own power utilities and the related business partners that make it possible. Each year this group gathers to discuss issues of concern and paint a picture of the state of the industry. 

There is a difference between investor-owned utilities (think FP&L or TECO) and municipally-owned utilities. At the end of the day, IOUs concern is making a profit for its shareholders. MOUs are concerned with providing value to our customers. Of course, I am a little biased in that statement, but that is because our public utility is very important to the City. Here’s why:

Value of Public Power

Cities exist to provide services to residents. If cities didn’t provide those services (trash collection, recreation amenities, water, wastewater, and stormwater collection, etc.) why bother living in one, just move out to the country. 

But, providing those services takes $$$. And, a lot of it. Most cities live and die on the ad valorem takes we receive from property values. This is great if you have a lot of property in the city limits and your property values are high. However, in our fair city neither is particularly true. We are relatively small in size and because we are the county seat, much of our highest value real estate is occupied by government building and government entities don’t pay taxes. 

This would put the city in a real financial pickle except for one thing. While governments don’t pay taxes they do pay power bills. And, because we own our own power utility some of the money we lose on property taxes can be recouped through our electrical services. 

From Worst to First in Power

This is all well and good, provided that residents and businesses can afford the rates we charge. For years a common complaint was how much we charged for our power. But, through FMEA, Florida Municipal Power Association, and some forward-thinking on behalf of our city government we have gone from having one of the highest utility rates in the state to consistently being one of the lowest. 

We have become a leading adopter of solar technology owning both our own solar field and participating in other power cooperatives that have significantly helped reduce our power costs, which in turn we have pasted on to our customers. And, even more is in the works.

It is exciting to come to conferences like this and hear about the innovation and work that is taking place around the state. Bartow remains committed to providing clean, reliable, and consistent power to our residents. 

You can learn more about the work of FMEA by checking out www.publicpower.com.