The lights are out in Lake Worth

Literally.

4,000 LED lights were installed in the city over one year ago by Siemens. They tell us that it will save us $250,000 a year but I was always sceptical of that claim. Perhaps now the city can come clean and tell us if they did indeed save $250,000. The commission, along with the city manager, made a big deal out of spending money to save money.

The CITY’s installation project totaled approximately $22,964,693 of which $11,259,014 is Direct Purchase of Equipment from vendors and $11,705,679 (that's MILLIONS) is the Contract Sum due to SIEMENS for the Work. Add that up.

The new lights cost $3 million but now, after the hurricane, 718 of them are still out. The new utility director wants to hire an outside firm to get them back working. What will all of this cost?

Read about it...

They're here--Siemens new Smart Electric Meters

I thought this guy was casing the joint but it's the city notifying us that we will get new electric and/or water meters.

LED Lights - Lake Worth

Tomorrow night the mayor of Lake Worth, Pam Triolo, is having a ceremony at 5:30pm for the LED lights that were recently installed in the city--4,000 of them. They tell us that it will save us $250,000 a year but I'll believe it when I see it. This is all political propaganda...making a big deal out of spending money to save money, or so they tell us.

The new lights are costing $3 million! Other small fortunes are being spent on solar panels ($5.5 mil) placed on our landfill for 2% of power, and $13 mil for smart meters through Siemens.

We seldom ever get costs on anything from city hall and they are extremely secretive about the recent mailer they sent out on the general obligation bond.  Not only did they send it out once, they sent it out a week later with taxpayer money. Michael Bornstein will not, even with a public information request, reveal how many they sent and the total cost of the mailer.

Although this video is on internal light bulb use, it is pertinent as a study that was published in late 2010 in the journal Environmental Science and Technology found that LEDs contain lead, arsenic and a dozen other potentially dangerous substances.

Light Up Lake Worth

The city says that light up Lake Worth is near completion with its LED street light conversion.

"A city-wide initiative, well underway, will convert more than 4,000 street lights to energy-efficient, cost-savings LED lighting. This project promotes traffic safety and security throughout Lake Worth, and saves the City over $250,000 a year in reduced electric usage & maintenance." (I'll believe it when they prove it).

Read more...

LED street lights

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Still being installed throughout Lake Worth. How long does it take to know if we have saved any money? A year? I still believe that the only people who will be making money on the deal is Siemens.

LED street lights can be harmful

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The replacement of our street lights to LED is costing us $3 million big buckeraoos. And we have had complaints about the light intensity. But the city is and has not addressed the harmful effects even though they were brought to their attention. Now the AMA has released its official statement that they may very well be harmful.

AMA Adopts Community Guidance to Reduce the Harmful Human and Environmental Effects of High Intensity Street Lighting

For immediate release:
June 14, 2016

CHICAGO - Strong arguments exist for overhauling the lighting systems on U.S. roadways with light emitting diodes (LED), but conversions to improper LED technology can have adverse consequences. In response, physicians at the Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association (AMA) today adopted guidance for communities on selecting among LED lighting options to minimize potential harmful human and environmental effects.

Converting conventional street light to energy efficient LED lighting leads to cost and energy savings, and a lower reliance on fossil-based fuels. Approximately 10 percent of existing U.S. street lighting has been converted to solid state LED technology, with efforts underway to accelerate this conversion.

"Despite the energy efficiency benefits, some LED lights are harmful when used as street lighting," AMA Board Member Maya A. Babu, M.D., M.B.A. "The new AMA guidance encourages proper attention to optimal design and engineering features when converting to LED lighting that minimize detrimental health and environmental effects."

High-intensity LED lighting designs emit a large amount of blue light that appears white to the naked eye and create worse nighttime glare than conventional lighting. Discomfort and disability from intense, blue-rich LED lighting can decrease visual acuity and safety, resulting in concerns and creating a road hazard.

In addition to its impact on drivers, blue-rich LED streetlights operate at a wavelength that most adversely suppresses melatonin during night. It is estimated that white LED lamps have five times greater impact on circadian sleep rhythms than conventional street lamps. Recent large surveys found that brighter residential nighttime lighting is associated with reduced sleep times, dissatisfaction with sleep quality, excessive sleepiness, impaired daytime functioning and obesity.

The detrimental effects of high-intensity LED lighting are not limited to humans. Excessive outdoor lighting disrupts many species that need a dark environment. For instance, poorly designed LED lighting disorients some bird, insect, turtle and fish species, and U.S. national parks have adopted optimal lighting designs and practices that minimize the effects of light pollution on the environment.

Recognizing the detrimental effects of poorly-designed, high-intensity LED lighting, the AMA encourages communities to minimize and control blue-rich environmental lighting by using the lowest emission of blue light possible to reduce glare. The AMA recommends an intensity threshold for optimal LED lighting that minimizes blue-rich light. The AMA also recommends all LED lighting should be properly shielded to minimize glare and detrimental human health and environmental effects, and consideration should be given to utilize the ability of LED lighting to be dimmed for off-peak time periods.

The guidance adopted today by grassroots physicians who comprise the AMA's policy-making body strengthens the AMA's policy stand against light pollution and public awareness of the adverse health and environmental effects of pervasive nighttime lighting.

###

Media Contact:
AMA Media and Editorial
Pressroom: (312) 239-4991
Email: media@ama-assn.org

Used lights dumped on John Prince Park

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Every day I am at John Prince Park picking up some lazy bum's trash. People have zero respect for the property of others but this one takes the cake! Let's hope that the LED sub-contractor working for Siemens and the city of Lake Worth had an arrangement to dump used lights on county property and they will be back later to remove.

Siemens and the Bright LED replacements in Lake Worth

I was hoping that our lights at Lakeside Point Gardens would not be changed out as the brightness was perfect as it was, but that "hope" didn't last.

Yesterday, one of Siemens' sub-contractors from Sarasota changed out (some, not all) the lights in my community. He assured me that they would be at least 5 times brighter than what we had. In other words, it will be like daylight at night! The lights they removed will be used in some other part of town, he said. That was surprising news. Let's light up the old people's life, a first!

I never was happy with the Siemens contract to begin with. Last week I got a call from a resident wondering what in heck was going on. His street light was change out and he was complaining about the brightness. I told him to call our Utility Director.

The CITY’s installation project total is $22,964,693 of which $11,259,014 is Direct Purchase of Equipment from vendors and $11,705,679 (that's MILLIONS) is the Contract Sum due to SIEMENS for the Work. Add that up.

Small fortunes on changing out light bulbs ($3 mil), small fortunes for erecting solar panels ($5.5 mil) on our landfill for 2% of power, and $13 mil for smart meters.

My new light...thank God I have shades in my bedroom. This light is within 15 feet of my apartment but I can say no criminal will be stalking around--that's a plus.

Smart Meters being installed in Lake Worth

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Siemens' sub-contractors have been in my community for the last several days changing out the water meters to Smart Meters.  Eventually this means that we will lose more employees unless they are transferred to different jobs within our utility.

The city is spending nearly $3 million on over 4,000 LED streetlights, $5.5 million on solar panels at our landfill, close to a million on new a/c units, etc. and hold on to your chair, they will be spending right under $13 million for advanced metering infrastructure that includes new smart meters, meters they say aren't really smart meters (that was for the Mayor's benefit) but they are.

We had discussions at the time--people were worried that smart meters could cause cancer. Smart meters give off RF radiation. RF radiation is low-energy radiation. RF radiation is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), as “possibly carcinogenic to humans.”

City Light is Bright - Lake Worth

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North Palmway and 5th Avenue North.

The street light has been replaced by Siemens and is a light that literally lights up the neighborhood

It's like daylight, all night long...

harsh, glary and too bright

One of the neighborhood association presidents invited the mayor to meet with her at the light. She never got a response back until later yesterday and said that she could not make it. We are paying Siemens over $23 million dollars on this bad deal until year 2031 and the mayor signed the contract.

The Siemens Loan deal - Legal Fees and Costs

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When I think of the Siemens deal, Donald Trump and the Iranian deal comes to mind. Last month when speaking about Iran he said that the nuclear deal with Iran was so bad he is close to wondering whether it was done poorly on purpose. “It’s almost like there has to be something else going on."

One thing that is going on with Siemens--the costs:

Click graph to read

Bond Counsel: $17,500.00
Financial Advisor: $5,000
Lake Worth City Attorney: $16,028
Bank Counsel: $12,500

TOTAL: $51,028

Now here is the BIG WHOPPER--The cost of these loans:

There are two separate loans that run simultaneously and the payments are impressive:

Loan #1 above is in the amount of $9,882,632.00 payments until year 2031 and is for LED street lighting, solar paneling, etc. At the end of this loan the interest and principal break-down is as follows:
INTEREST: $3,103,292.76
PRINCIPAL: $9,882,632.00

Loan #2 is in the amount of $12,663,088.83 payments to year 2031 and is for accessories, parts and other equipment.
INTEREST: $3,977,959.68
PRINCIPAL: $12,663,088.83

The interest compounds and we are paying a whopping 31.41% for these loans with some of the improvements not having a life of the loan. We will have to provide constant maintenance, something we don't do well or at all.

This is what all of the incumbents voted for and Mayor Pam Triolo signed the contracts.

To read it all, Click Here

Management Services and Siemens

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The city administration continues to try and give our city away.  This time we are going to break even for 15 years on equipment that will be outdated in five and we will be paying the loan for 30 years. No one can explain the logic behind this "deal" that passed on a 4/1 vote. The only thing that one can conclude is "just another thing off the city manager's plate" at a tremendous expense.

It's unbelievable to me that in a city with 30% poverty, in a city with little money, this administration finds ways to spend small fortunes such as this recent $32.5 million deal with Siemens.  They spend like they have deep pockets. They tell us that the contract is $32.5  and includes--Siemens cost of the work for installation ($12M); Performance Assurance Services Program costs of $1.3M (paid to Siemens over 15 year term); third party maintenance agreements costs of $1.6M (paid to Tantalus and N. Harris over 15 year term); and, the remainder being interest payments on the Bank of America equipment lease loan to fund the direct purchase and installation costs.

To be more precise: The CITY’s installation project total is $22,964,693 of which $11,259,014 is Direct Purchase of Equipment from vendors and $11,705,679 (that's MILLIONS) is the Contract Sum due to SIEMENS for the Work.

Small fortunes on changing out light bulbs ($3 mil), small fortunes for erecting solar panels ($5.5 mil) on our landfill for 2% of power, and $13 mil for smart meters. We just changed out meters. Did we really need any of this or was it simply "I want it therefore it will be." Commissioner McVoy got taken in by renewal energy and the other three, who knows?  They must want to believe that spending these multi-millions is "moving the city forward" as Commissioner Amoroso likes to tell us.

The Siemens contact was approved by this commission on a 4/1 vote with Maier dissenting. Everyone knew it was going to get approved as Hector Samario was skirting around city hall for 14 months laying his seed and doing his audit. Now the City just approved another $300,000 for some company to oversee what Siemens and its subs do. I can't find where this ever went out on an RFP. Did it? No one can answer this question other than it didn't have to go out on an RFP. Where did this company come from--Siemens recommendation?

Last Tuesday the commission approved a draft work order and authorized the Mayor to approve the final Work Order with URS, a division of AECOM, acquired a little over one year ago, for Construction Management Services during the Siemens Energy Efficiency Project for a not-to exceed amount of $299,403.

BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION:
The Siemens Energy Efficiency Program includes the procurement and construction of multiple Facility Improvement Measures (FIMs) over an 18 month schedule, with a total cost exceeding $22 million. This work order will provide the City with construction management services to oversee these projects and fulfill the City’s responsibilities during construction. URS has specialized experience with energy efficiency programs needed to oversee this project. The Work Order is approximately 1.4% of the projected Energy Services Agreement.

Someone(s) is making a heck of a lot of money off of Lake Worth.

Lake Worth - Sold on Siemens

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Last night, Commissioner Ryan Maier read an e-mail from Mario E. Motta, M.D. regarding the Siemens contract sent to the local chapter of Dark Skys.

Mario E. Motta, MD is past President of the Massachusetts Medical Society, which publishes the New England Journal of Medicine, (the world's most prestigious medical journal). Dr. Motta currently serves on the American Medical Association's Council of Sciences and Public Health. He is a cardiologist at the North Shore Medical Center in Salem, Massachusetts, and a recent President of the Massachusetts Medical Society (2010). He was elected to serve on the Council of Science and Public health of the AMA, serving in his forth year. Also, he is currently serving as president of the American Association of Variable Star Observers. (AAVSO). He has been very active in the battle on light pollution for many years, and currently a board member of the IDA (International Dark Sky Association)

Medical effects of light pollution

The following is correspondence from Dr. Motta to the Dark Sky Lake Worth chapter upon review of the Siemens contract along with his comments:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mario Motta
Date: Sun, Aug 30, 2015 at 8:30 PM
Subject: Re: Fw: Fwd: Siemens contract

• There is no analysis in this, simply replaces existing, whether overlit or not, with equivalent amount of LED light.

• Lazy contract with no work or engineering analysis at all.

• Your city deserves better.

• Siemens acts like the experts, and town managers are easily fooled by them.

• This is just a sales contract for profit, with no work behind it at all, you should be appalled.

Mario

Nothing fazed this commission last night. After all, Hector Samario of Siemens has been walking around city hall for 14 months--they were all brainwashed. Last night, the commission was sitting on the dais with a big S (stupid and sold) on their foreheads. Siemens was discussed at the end of the night, a strategic move by the city to eliminate much of the public who had left earlier. Their minds were already made up. The commission would not allow a workshop on it (the mayor said we already had loads of past discussions) and residents had only 2 minutes to talk on three relative items on the agenda that normally would have been 6 minutes of public commentary. Not one resident spoke in favor of the $23 million commitment over 15 years.  To the city administration and four commissioners who voted for it, it was as easy as spending someone else's buck at the Dollar Store.

I still have a million questions that were never brought up nor answered.  The city, essentially, will be in a break-even situation. Siemens?  Who knows--they're not talking about the millions they will be making off our city. I would think that in any contract, you would know all the details and let the public know what the monetary details are. 

With rebates and tax breaks that Siemens will get and the steady climb of electric rates, more and more people believe that Solar is the answer. Even Maxwell, after knowing the electric rates would go up, voted for the Siemens contract. We were sold by a smooth salesman. And we have no idea what's in store for us as Siemens will use sub-contractors--we could have shoddy installation, poor customer service, hidden fees and cost over-runs, a possibility that was brought up by one resident last night.

Once again, this is all about getting pesky issues off the city manager's plate, a commission that is paranoid that we can't progress because of lack of money and a sales pitch that is probably too good to be true. Time will tell. Now we can go on to the next contrived crisis and farm out our casino complex.

Smart Meters, Smart Grid Solutions and the $23 million dollar price tag

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Slick Salesman

First introduced to us on February 10, 2015, Hector Samario told us that he wants a lot of money from the City of Lake Worth. Everyone heads to Lake Worth when they want to save us from ourselves.  Is there some list being passed around directing people to come here?

The city manager has been working with Siemens behind the scenes like they are the 2nd coming of Christ, no kidding, and now has them on tonight's agenda under New Business J.  City Manager Bornstein has a dream to take Lake Worth into the 21st Century.

The total cost of the project to the City is projected to be $32.5M and the city has to get the approval and closing of a Bank of America equipment lease loan to pay for the equipment and installation costs of $23M. Once funded, the monies will be deposited into an escrow account from which the City will make draws to pay Siemens and make the direct equipment purchases. It seems that the city will be spending nearly $3 million on over 4,000 LED streetlights, $5.5 million on solar panels at our landfill, close to a million on new a/c units, etc. and hold on to your chair, they will be spending right under $13 million for advanced metering infrastructure that includes new smart meters, meters they say aren't really smart meters (that was for the Mayor's benefit) but they are. We just replaced meters.

Siemens wants us to know that the contract does not constitute a debt, liability or obligation?? With Siemens' implementations, such as vending machine sensors at 3 buildings, no kidding, they say we will save money. If the agreed upon energy goals are not met, Siemens pays the shortfall that now will be a 15 year contract. We will have an annual cash flow of $210,666 a year for 15 years on a debt that isn't a debt of $23 million depending on the street light contingency. Wow!

*The City must reasonably permit SIEMENS to control and/or operate all building controls, systems, apparatus, equipment and machinery necessary to perform the Work, subject to CITY operational requirements. In other words, Bornstein wants to turn over the whole enchilada.

This city administration, once again, is going around the people. This time it is $23 million dollars. Have you ever heard of anything quite like it? The city commission can vote you, the taxpayer, into 15 years of commitment by simply voting yea and something that the city manager wants them to do. If they can't get it from a referendum, they will get some of it by at least a 3/2 vote  perhaps more. Think about all  that power they have over your money on improvements that will be outdated in five years and need constant care and maintenance.  We have a big problem just thinking about the word "maintenance."

We have attorneys who really should be advising the city commission on things that could go wrong but the city attorney who is appointed by the commission does what the city manager wants him to do. Do we really need all these "improvements" and spending millions? If anyone on the dais has the slightest doubt tonight, please vote it down. If not, should they all be recalled?

Are Smart Meters a Dumb Idea?

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Smart meters are probably not a dumb idea for utility companies but they might be for the consumer. We are reading about more and more utility companies installing smart meters. It has been reported that bills are going up since analog meters have been replaced. There have even been health effects and reported safety  violations. No one is talking about the privacy issues. So, the question is, do we really need wireless smart meters?

The mayor didn't want them. Siemens said that well, they're not really that "smart" but they are selling them to us. On Tuesday night, part of the Siemens plan is to sell us Smart Meters. What was the sales pitch for this when we just spent thousands replacing meters throughout the city.

Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) is an integrated system of smart meters, communications networks, and data management systems that enables two-way communication between utilities and customers. Siemens says, the CITY shall continue to be responsible for reading meters until all commissioning and acceptance plan steps are completed for the AMI system.

As one person said and I thought it very enlightening--

“Smart” Meters do not allow for fair commerce or trust.

The “smart” meter internal program and calibration settings can be changed from remote at any time and in milliseconds. No one would ever know.

This is not fair commerce for either party. The power company could easily raise the calibration settings and no one would ever know since they are the only ones who can come and check the meter. Any inspection of the internal program would only be done by them too.

The incentive to do that is hundreds of thousands of dollars per month more for a very small change in the calibration settings of millions of meters.

Also, a “hacker” could easily change the calibration settings to make the meter read less kilowatt hours. The loss to the power company would be offset by other customers through rate increases since power generation needs would not go down.

Mechanical meters are fair to both parties because it can be seen through the glass that there are no tricks going on, and the spinning dial indicator can be used to quickly check the meter readings against a small load.

In a “hacking” or reprogrammed situation, the digital LCD display could be made to show anything the programmer wanted to show, so the normal homeowner couldn’t easily tell what the immediate power usage billed for really is. It may also fool power company employees.

“Smart” Meters are a dumb idea.

Lake Worth's Latest Scheme

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All I know is--we have a bunch of debt and being a conservative,  I hate debt. But what I hate more, is more debt on top of debt and someone telling me it's not debt.  Yeah, I know...

Debts outstanding:
#1 Series 2008 Debt Service
#2 Bank of America Public Capital Series 2013 Loan
#3 SRF Revolving $6.5M Loan
#4 SRF Revolving $450K Loan & 2.549M Principal Forgiven
#5 2" Watermain SRF Loan $16.06 Million just recently voted in by this commission.

We have $53 million still outstanding on the Utility upgrade.  Back in 2014, our former Finance Director, Steve Carr, said that our pension debt is in the red by $131 million and it is the biggest problem Lake Worth has.

And now, the commission is gaga over Siemens and getting us into more debt of nearly $23 million big buckeroos. But Siemens doesn't call it debt. It seems that the city will be spending nearly $3 million on over 4,000 LED streetlights, $5.5 million on solar panels at our landfill, close to a million on new a/c units, etc. and hold on to your chair, they will be spending right under $13 million for advanced metering infrastructure that includes new smart meters. We just replaced meters.

We will get a loan from Bank of America, rate undetermined at this time. We will put money into an escrow account called a "savings account" and money will be paid out as each phase is done. Siemens wants us to know that the contract does not constitute a debt, liability or obligation?? With Siemens' implementations, such as vending machine sensors at 3 buildings, no kidding, we will save money. If the agreed upon energy goals are not met, Siemens pays the shortfall that now will be a 15 year contract. We will have an annual cash flow of $210,666 a year for 15 years on a debt that isn't a debt of $22 or 23 million depending on the street light contingency. Wow!  How does Siemens make its money?

According to the budget, Electric rates are being reduced by 0.5% in FY 2015 for a total reduction over four years of 10.5% for residential customers; 12.7% for small commercial customers, and 17.5% for large commercial (demand) customers.
Local Sewer rates have increased by 8% in FY 2015.
Water rates have increased by 5% in FY 2015.
Stormwater and Refuse rates will remain unchanged for 2015.

Last night, Hector Samario of Siemens said that they support the commission and the city manager's vision that of building the city of Lake Worth's brand. We don't know what the "brand" is unless the commission believes that it's transferring responsibility to some third party, salary raises for those at the top, free lunches, plenty of unsustainable debt, building high and ignoring election results, and entertaining the idea of a long term lease at our beach to a private developer to name a few.

As hard as I have tried, I still don't get this latest scheme--why now or why we need it.

Siemens Contract - Is this good for Lake Worth?

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Tonight's workshop will feature Siemens Industries and Hector Samario and another of his PowerPoint presentations.  If you recall, he gave one on February 10, 2015. Back on April 1, 2014, every single commissioner voted to hire Siemens Industry to conduct an audit on energy efficiency--If the plan is accepted, we are obligated to enter into an energy performance contract. If not, we pay the $148,000 audit fee.

I have to be the first to admit that I don't understand anything about this--whether it is good for our city or not...whether this company will live up to its projections and stated savings to our city and who is there to give oversight during the course of the contract. The government is an easy touch when it comes to smooth talking salesmen who will make money off of our city.

Energy Savings: Performance Contracts Offer Benefits, but Vigilance Is Needed to Protect Government Interests

We all want to be energy efficient and Siemens has been around town for quite some time. Where did they come from? Who invited them here? Who decided we wanted/needed this?  Why this company over any other? Did we go out on an RFP?  It all sounds good/interesting in theory and all people green are probably going bonkers just thinking about solar energy on our landfill and dark skies street lighting that protects wildlife, cuts energy waste and stops light pollution, but...is this really something we need to commit our city to? 

With little or no up-front payment by the agency, the energy savings company (ESCO) typically designs and constructs a project that will meet our needs. Siemens has now done this. It arranges financing to pay for it. They guarantee that the improvements will generate savings sufficient to pay for the project over the term of the contract, with contract terms of up to 20 years. Thereafter, the agency conducts an annual energy audit and makes annual payments to the ESCO from the funds generated by the energy-saving measures. After the contract ends, all additional cost savings accrue to the agency. Will all this "savings" (new meters, new LED lights, etc.)  be obsolete after the term, as new technology takes over the industry?

Siemens says that the Contract and Financing Agreements are in progress and that on June 2, the commission will vote to accept their contract. They have already told us that the term will be 20 years with a savings on our energy costs of  $2M - $2.5M  per year. Who gets that--Siemens? Who actually makes the money off of this $20 to $25 million deal? Is the benefit to the city just becoming more energy efficient and the rate payers pay the same?  Is that how the city will make money?

I sincerely hope that there are commissioners asking all the right questions (20 years is a long time) because, as I said, this is way beyond my scope of understanding but not beyond my typical cautious concern.

It's about Smart Meters and Smart Grid Solutions

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Hector Samario of Siemens was in the chamber last night. He stuck around to observe some of our meeting as he had been at City Hall on business. In actuality, he has been around our city for going on one year now, probably accessing our electric utility situation and our needs.

Rumor has it that Siemens is the cause for the firings at our Utility. Perhaps that is why Clay Lindstrom found another job. It might also explain why the job description salary for his replacement is only $120,000 a year and why we haven't found a replacement.

Siemens says, "As utilities deploy advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) across their distribution grids, the amount of utility and customer-related data explodes – from monthly hand-held meter reads to interval consumption received on a 15-minute or less basis. The challenge for the electric utility is to convert this massive amount of data into actionable information for multiple purposes across the enterprise. Siemens provides comprehensive metering and energy information management services to the utility industry, including meter data management system (MDMS) software, integration services and consulting.

It's all about a Smart Grid. "The grid," is a network of transmission lines, substations, transformers and more that deliver electricity from the power plant to your home or business. It’s what you plug into when you flip on your light switch or power up your computer. As this commission is always talking about moving forward, in order to do that, it is said that we need a new kind of electric grid, that can handle the ever increasing use of digital and computerized equipment and the technology dependent on it...bring us into the 21st Century. Source:  The Smart Grid

No one is talking at City Hall but one thing that is certain, all on the dais as well as the residents in our city are into the efficient transmission of electricity.  I was under the impression that it was efficient now and that perhaps we should start looking into producing and investing in our own power. We did have a presentation by Siemens on February 10th and were told that the scope of work is between $20 and $25 million and that we should reap a savings of 10% a year. It was not mentioned how Siemens makes its money or what percentage of the savings it will put in its own pocket or anything on the structure of the deal or any guaranty.

There will be a workshop regarding Siemens on May 12 at City Hall at 6pm where perhaps we will learn about the savings, the financing, why we didn't go out on a bid and what has been called by one commissioner as "a win, win" deal.  I don't think anything is that simple and when you're dealing with a desperate city...well, anything can happen.

Siemens and the Energy Performance Contract with Lake Worth

Hector Samario, who gave the presentation to the Lake Worth Commission this past Tuesday on energy performance contracting services, responded to my request for definitive/specific information regarding the financing of this $20 to $25 million dollar proposal.

Essentially I asked him if he could explain the financing aspect of his proposal because the Lake Worth City Commission told the public NOTHING.

What I asked--Is there any language in your literature or in any proposed contract to the City of Lake Worth that would explain how these capital costs are to be funded? It seems, or from what I have been told,  that Siemens is taking all of the risk for an undetermined amount of reward (at least 10%) over an undetermined length of an agreement/term.  Surely, if you have investors, the rate of return would be much higher? Does Siemens Corp take all of the risk? I am confused as to how Siemens makes its money here. Will this be done on a tax-exempt municipal lease?  I keep getting told that it won’t cost the City any money??!!

Here is an excerpt from his reply that pertains to my questions:

Regarding your request for information, and as this project is governed by Florida Statute 489.145, your best source of information would come directly from the Florida Statute on Performance Contracting (link provided below).  Florida first enacted this statute in the early 1990s, and it was last updated in 2012. 

http://www.flsenate.gov/laws/statutes/2012/489.145

Now I am more curious than ever.