Proposed upgrade to 26.4kv at Lake Worth Utilities

Guest Blogger
William D. Coakley
Former Chair of the Lake Worth Electric Utility Task Force

The proposed "upgrade" to 26.4kv is an upgrade for eager staff bent on squandering other people's money.  But in that selfish pursuit little consideration is focused on the "downgrade" forced on the public.

1.  Regardless of how staff argues, the upgrade to a non standard voltage means the public is deprived of any equity being added to THEIR electric system.  In fact, it further degrades the equity.

2.  The people's money (bond specifications) stipulated a STANDARD upgrade to a voltage compatible with FPL who would be the most likely buyer if the residents of LW ever decided to sell their electric system and the company most likely to help out in the event of a disaster.  This was a plan for the future that PROTECTED public interest and taxpayer investment.

3.  It is a further downgrade since the data as of 2006 on file at the utility showed that the 26.4 kv parts of the system functioned a tenth as well as the beat up system that serves residents are served with now.

It is always some new engineer, utility director, or powerplant staff that tries to spend the people's money on this hair brained voltage that only two other small utilities use anywhere else in the country... and it is clearly designed to perpetuate a money pit that benefits pensioners and others while leaving the public with the bill.  This direction of supposed "upgrading," will forever significantly diminish the equity in the system since the cost of converting it back to a standard voltage that everyone else uses... would mean offering peanuts for our system.

There is a very powerful mantra in the utility business .. ALWAYS BUILD STANDARD.  But then again, some folks like to experiment with other people's money.

Jets at Lantana Airport

Comment Up

Small aircraft flying low over my condo

Living out here on Lake Osborne we hear the noise of helicopters flying overhead as well as planes flying low from the Lantana Airport that is adjacent to John Prince Park. We have had 82 crashes there since 1982. Just last year, a plane crashed into a mobile home park killing the pilot and someone on the ground. The single-engine plane, a Cherokee 180, was flying from Orlando to the Lantana area airport, just down the road from the crash.

One of our neighbors, Bill Coakley, who has a home directly across the lake from the Lantana Airport, has been fighting this for years. Now, to make matters worse, we have jet aircraft returning to the Lantana Airport.

The owner of Galaxy Aviation said that is what we residents should expect if we buy a house by an airport. Most of our houses have been around longer than Galaxy Aviation.

For years, Bill Coakley has been contacting everyone imaginable about this quality of life issue for the residents of Lake Osborne Estates and all of us who live out here. Now, on top of all the noise problems, we have jets again.

"The recent JET activity and the FBO's February email attempting to marginalize the problem with insults and ignorance directed at the public, has compromised the good relations and optimism which accompanied the friendly and respectful interchange with Galaxy staff when they arrived on the field," he said.

Bill further stated that "One JET inevitably means many more to follow. And that in turn means the possibility of mechanic schools testing jet engines on the field... possibly JET training schools on the airport who conduct their training over our communities."

He mentioned, "The seventeen years of daily and routine abusive non compliant training that had led to so much public unrest - he explained the AIP Grant scam and that if JETS were coming to LNA... there would be a storm of public unrest and introduced the topic of legal action that had been brewing."

Read the article...

What we're also extremely concerned about is whether or not the County is pulling a fast one--allowing jets at the airport in conjunction with the recent construction at John Prince Park in anticipation of its desire for the arrival of the Atlanta Braves in 2019.

William Coakley Wedding

Comment Up

What better day to feature love?

Bill Coakley, of William Coakley Sound Design and a former candidate for commissioner in Lake Worth, has been a confirmed bachelor his entire life. He once told me that he would never get married. Life and God has a funny way of changing your mind. Yesterday he made his long relationship public, official, and permanent at St. Jude Catholic Church in Boca. Congratulations.

Lake Worth over-charging its neighbors for water?

Comment Up

Is Lake Worth over-charging its neighbors for water or is it just good business? He who controls the water, controls the world.

Tonight under New Business is an agreement for legal services:

EXECUTIVE BRIEF TITLE: Agreement for Legal Services with Manson Bolves Donaldson P.A

SUMMARY: The City Attorney recommends entering an agreement for legal services with Manson Bolves Donaldson P.A.

BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION: Several months ago the City Manager entered into an agreement not to exceed $25,000 with Manson Bolves Donaldson PA (“Firm”) to defend the City against a lawsuit filed by Lake Osborne Waterworks, Inc. (“Plaintiff”). The claim relates to the City’s provision of potable water to Plaintiff (formerly known as Lake Osborne Utilities Company), a regulated utility company under Florida law.

I guess he didn't realize, at the time, the seriousness of the charges or he didn't want to have it come before the commission. Now he has to get their approval to spend more money on a trial that begins in less than two weeks.

On or about 1974, the City entered into an agreement with Lake Osborne Utilities Company to furnish potable water from the City so that Lake Osborne Utilities Company could provide water services to its retail customers, all of whom lie outside the City limits. Plaintiff subsequently acquired Lake Osborne Utilities Company. Plaintiff claims that the agreement with the City expired in 2008 and since that time the City has charged and collected excessive rates. The Plaintiff asks the court to invalidate the City’s fees, rates and charges and award it damages for all overcharges dating back to October 9, 2008, along with all attorney’s fees and costs to bring the claim. Currently, the case is scheduled to go to trial beginning on August 31st. Due to the specialized nature of Plaintiff’s claim against the City, the Firm was retained to provide its expertise in utility rate cases involving a regulated utility.

I reported on this suit a little over one year ago where Lake Osborne Waterworks, (remember Aqua Utilities?) a company that buys water from Lake Worth and distributes it through their pipes, sells it to Lake Osborne Estates (just down the road from me) filed a suit against Lake Worth. The single family residences in Lake Osborne Estates are charged as if they are multi-users.  Bill Coakley, president of Lake Osborne Estates Civic Association, says that Lake Worth is playing "hard ball."

Plaintiff claims are true.  Lake Osborne Heights is serviced by this company that buys the water from us. The residents are paying nearly double our rate and our rate is enormous.  As the president of this neighborhood says, "Lake Worth Utilities refuses to offer a bulk water deal.  It's quite unrealistic for us to be paying nearly double what a LW resident pays for the same water.​"

So I ask again, is Lake Worth taking advantage of its neighbors or is this just a smart business decision? We have spent multi-millions on our water plant. Are people who are not serviced by Lake Worth entitled to better rates or the same rates that we pay?  This is a question that will be decided in the courts.

Lake Worth gets Sued

So, what's new? Residents in Lake Osborne Estates, directly down the road from me, are paying a small fortune for water.  You think our rates are high?  The problem there is they deal with a middle-man.

Lake Osborne Waterworks, (remember Aqua Utilities?) a company that buys water from Lake Worth and distributes it through their pipes, sells it to Lake Osborne Estates.  They have sued the city. The single family residences in Lake Osborne Estates are charged as if they are multi-users.  Bill Coakley, president of Lake Osborne Estates Civic Association, says that Lake Worth is playing "hard ball."

Read about it...

John Prince Park as possible location for Spring training site through the eyes of a neighbor

Comment Up
Regarding John Prince Park as a site for a national baseball Spring training site, the will of the people who will be affected by this enterprise is the primary consideration.  It's easy to armchair it ...if you're not the families impacted by this project. 

The prevailing thinking is... 'that's their problem and it doesn't affect me so let them deal with it.' Special interests bank on this thinking to isolate and marginalize the impact of their projects on the public.  This is how it happens that one day when a problem affects your neighborhood... no one is there to help and when you try to get neighbors involved they say "what can we do... it's just a few of us." 

The sudden reversal of zoning at Hypoluxo and High Ridge Road last year looked like an inevitable slam-dunk.  The neighbors to the project were few in number but we helped them get organized, appeared in photos and at commission meetings with them and stood in solidarity with their position which was appropriate and reasonable.  In the end, the project was voted down despite Commissioner Vana's desperate efforts to keep the deal alive for the developer who wanted a 24 pump RaceWay gas station across the street from their homes.  

Unless we are willing to accept that our neighbor's problems are our problems, special interests will continue to successfully nibble away at our quality of life one little neighborhood at a time ...and isolated communities are prime pickin's for those interests.  In fact, it's the first consideration... "are there any neighborhood organizations?"  And unless we connect with our neighbor's concerns, how can we expect them to connect with ours when our time of need arises?  Mostly it takes numbers and bodies to change things.

That being said, I think Mr Haine's indicated that deed restrictions moved this project to another location... so this may all be over before it begins.

One other thing, Lake Worth's problems are self inflicted and no matter how much money rolls into that city... the money will just roll back out again in the form of waste and in support of special interests.  No one there, once in power, is willing to address either the waste or corruption issues that have plagued that city for decades.  What other city has electric, water and sewer utilities they can rob and still can't balance their budget?  How do other cities without an electric utility do it?  Imagine losing 8 million dollars by a supposed accounting error or imagine not being able to find 4 million in CASH in a bond account.


William Coakley
President of the Lake Osborne Estates Civic Association, Inc.

Vote the bums out - Stir the Political Pool

Comment Up

"Vote the bums out" was a William Coakly motto when he ran for mayor of Lake Worth a few years ago. 

Today, 19 elections will be held in Palm Beach County.  Lake Worth is not among them. No one in the City of Lake Worth ran against the incumbents. If you think about it, all the ingredients necessary for a political explosion were in place. People have been fed up with the growing slum, blight and crime in Lake Worth. And even though ordinances have finally been passed to help correct the cancer that afflicts us, nothing changes. Emphasis is put on "shiny objects" and a plan to rebuild our 100 year old city's infrastructure to be paid by many struggling to survive.

This "visionary" commission has a huge problem-- they don't listen to the people for whom they serve. People are fed up with them and some top staff who do not return a call and who continually hit them aside the head with  baseball bats.  They're too busy or traveling to ports of call for the League of Cities or some other networking event. The people won an election a year ago but what did the city do?  They drew themselves into court now using city tax dollars against the people. They knew best and honestly believe they are smarter than the people. They should have honored the vote instead of using some trumped up State law after the fact. They listen to their "economic growth' supporters and believe the hype.

From the first day a Pioneer set foot here, this city has always been a middle-class town full of working folks raising families. Later, after development, we garnered a small percentage of retirees and Snowbirds...now we have thousands. It is a city comprised of  5.64 sq mi where 35,000 people live who want to have a nice quality of life and preserve their single family neighborhoods. Instead, we have a downtown full of bars, bikers and garbage galore but the commission's attitude of anything for a buck persists. Honky Tonk USA. And we have a commission that believes in growth at any and all costs. Low cost housing is prevalent with two rental projects now being built attracting more poor to our city.

We are not cleaning up the garbage and the filth. It is easier to give things away than to maintain them. We have attracted a lot of people who show no respect for the city they visit, or the one in which they own property, evidenced after a city event or a drive through the neighborhoods. Abandoned and stressed properties abound and they bring down the entire neighborhood and property values.

It is hard to defeat an incumbent. They are in office for at least two years and have built up connections and have raised money.  Even their campaign account balances are within the limit that can be rolled over to the next election. Good people, who would consider running, are maligned by that side even before they step into the arena to the point you wouldn't recognize them if they fell over you. Politics is slimy and cruel here and the lies grow like Pinocchio's nose. For a small city, it has to be the most vicious. Good people have literally dropped out.

So I suggest that you vote all incumbents out of office unless you actually find an ethical, honest, hard-working politician, one that is working for you and the overall good of the people--one who really supports the important issues, instead of just giving them lip service. They might deserve a second term in office. Other than that, vote them all out. By taking this approach, it will automatically stir the political pool until something more than scum rises to the top and we are able to identify people that are actually capable of doing a great job.

A second term should be a rarity in Lake Worth until we get our political act together. And we should never have people sliding into office with no opposition.

More affordable housing in Lake Worth - La Joya Villages

Comment Up

It's fun to spend other people's money and the CRA after years of wasteful spending on the Pugh property (Pugh is the guy who did the renovation of our pool for Greater Bay) located at 6th Avenue South and F Street, finally is seeing its development dream begin. It has committed to spend a ton of money to build affordable rental housing on the parcel. Imagine that?  More affordable housing.  Spending more federal money to attract more poor people to a city that can't rise above the ashes. This project is being built on the railroad tracks--lucky devils--with what appears to be not much in set-backs from the street. More bang from the buck that way.  Renters will be leasing for $712 a month up to $1,000 a month for 3 bedrooms.

Ever since the CRA got the NSP2 $23 million grant, it has been burning holes in their pocket. The CRA will contribute $1.8 million from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program grant toward the $10.6 million projected cost of the project. Other financing is expected to come from low-income housing tax credits and from tax-exempt bond money provided by the county’s Housing Finance Authority. The $1.8 million will pay for the impact and permit fees to the City and the County. The remainder of the $1.8 will be used for infrastructure costs, recording and closing costs, engineering and architectural fees, the bond application, utility relocation and other fees that all constitute the NSP-2 eligible expenses.

The CRA was very excited as this development site put them well over their stated 100 unit goal in the NSP2 plan. When it spent $5.8  million redeveloping this county road years ago, it was to attract development. The only way their dream is coming true for development is because the CRA bought this property with federal grant money and will be using grant money for its development. This will be the very first development project on 6th Avenue South, a costly pipe-dream.

So, Pugh gets $643,500 for the land from the CRA; the CRA sells it to La Joya Villages for $1; the CRA paid for the demolition even before it owned the property; the CRA paid for the option for quite some time at $14,000 a month in order to control the outcome; if there is a  Realtor involved, he gets his money; the CRA gets to spend government money; the developer lines his pockets; poor people can rent and live on the railroad tracks and traffic will be a nightmare at that intersection. And the CRA gets any tax money from the project, not the city.

As Bill Coakley said back in 2008 who was carefully tracking all the shenanigans regarding the CRA's continued waste of taxpayer money and particularly the Pugh property, "It is time to step back and think about the role of government and the fundamental obligations of volunteer boards to serve the public interest." The commission had a chance to take back the CRA several years ago and lost on a 3 to 2 vote.

Read more...
It is apparent why this country is in so much trouble. Any sort of building looks better than what was there especially with "free" money. And the slum and blight goes on.

Thanks, Cara. Thanks, Rene. Thanks Commission

Comment Up
For screwing around with our beach.

Great timing. Spring break. Tourist Season. As soon as this is completed, there will be plenty of people screaming bloody murder when most of the upper level parking will be GONE.

Just released:
The City of Lake Worth will begin construction on the Lake Worth Beach Redevelopment Project this coming Monday March 12, 2012. Phase I of the project will require the closure of the Upper Parking Lot with only limited parking available along the beach roadway and lower parking lot. Phase I is expected to conclude by the end of May and visitors to the beach are reminded to take particular care during this period.

Directional and informational signs have been erected and we apologize for the inconvenience but urge beach patrons to continue to patronize both the beach, the pier and Benny's during the beach rehabilitation - click here for press release and more details.

See the original Greater Bay plan that isn't much worse than the plan soon to be implemented. Click to view William Coakley's video here. Funny stuff really. Now with the Singer Plan, we will have 89 upper level spaces and we will have to drive through the parking lot with cars backing up on us. No ocean view anymore. All gone. Poof.

Incompetence by Design

Comment Up
By William Coakley
Former Chair, Electric Utility Task Force

I am responding to a post under the blog entitled A Few Thoughts on Sustainability wherein someone commented that our RO plant is a fiasco among other false assertions.

The comment is just more delusional thinking. The County was looking to expand their water empire and had found a willing sucker by colluding with Mark Bates, Finance Director and Robert Baldwin temporary city manager to essentially bankrupt the city with a classic rip. The County water department cleverly gave phony projections and figures to Bates and Baldwin, leaving out key facts and figures which showed the County was attempting to scalp LW taxpayers.

The County Water Contract as you refer to it would have cost LW 30 million before we even had a drop of water and that's assuming no "cost overruns or miscalculations"... famous in LW. It would have provided the County (at our cost) a twenty million dollar tap into the coastal water systems where they could further their aggression and sweep up our water contracts with other towns and cities. In this contract, our water rate was set to automatically escalate for twenty years. And it would literally GIVE the County our 15 million dollar investment already in the ground with three wells, an infrastructure that could provide 15 million gallons a day of RO water, and permits for many more wells which, by the way, were permitted on COUNTY land.

The County had no way of expanding their empire building into the coastal networks without hoodwinking those "Lake Worthians of lesser intelligence, foresight and care for the planet" into believing the biggest lie ever told, ie, that "we would actually save money."

This deal was so rotten from top to bottom that the County had to back off when it became obvious to County Commissioners that the aggressive pursuit by their water department might net an embarrassing law suit that would have revealed how the County had lured the city of LW into a sucker deal. And they wisely decided to avoid the stain on their reputation if they ruthlessly insisted that LW pay regardless of the burden it imposed on the already overburdened LW taxpayer.

Unfortunately, the subsequent handling of the RO system wasn't very stellar either. First, the city paid about 7 million more to Mock Roos than they had to and it may be that we're getting nicked for things that the LWU utility director missed... after all, she was only $20,000,000 off on her estimates on other utility issues.

Aqua Utilities Back in the News

You think your water bill is ridiculous? Don't complain; it could be worse. We could be living right down the road.

Every time you might want to think that the grass is greener somewhere else, it might very well not be the case. Bill Coakley moved to Lake Osborne Drive directly across from the Lantana Airport and he has been bombarded by helicopters flying low over his residence. For the last several years, he has been fighting atrocious water bills.

Just having been granted a $2.6 million dollar increase last year, the Florida Public Service Commission has recommended that Aqua Utilities receive another gigantic rate hike of $2.8 million.

They buy their water from Lake Worth Utilities and sell it back to Lake Osborne Estates but the problem is, this company has been buying up water systems in other places with old infrastructure that needs replacing. The customers at Lake Osborne Estate are paying through the nose for Aqua's corporate expansion.

Read what a resident of Lake Osborne Estates, Bill Coakley, has to say who is president of his neighborhood association.

Lake Worth Utility - the $40,000 Arch Flash Study

Comment Up

At tonight's city commission meeting, there are ten items that were postponed from the January 17th meeting related to the Utility that will be voted and approved.

The Lake Worth Utility has always been the black hole. There has never been a city manager who understood what expense was justified and what was not that came out of the Utility. They all have relied on the utility director and professional staff to advise them correctly. For awhile there, we were running through utility directors at the same pace as city managers.

The Utility is very important to our city. Without it, we would not be able to operate our city as we draw $10 million from it to keep our city afloat. We all instinctively feel that something is amiss particularly when our rates are among the highest in the State. How do we really know if we need that Derrick-Digger as an example? Is the price in line? Could we have bought used?

There is a whistle-blowers' law suit against the City right now regarding the Utility. Some have said that one of the whistle-blowers, an Engineer, could have conducted the Arch Flash Study in-house and saved us a bunch of money.

Read William Coakley's article on that Arch Flash Study, How forty thousand dollars of your money got wasted.

Inventory at Lake Worth Utility

Comment Up

It's no wonder that Staff is turning over and people have resigned. The Utility is the place where millions get spent and millions get wasted.

The Utilities Warehouse controls stock items for the Electric, Operations General, Water & Sewer, and Power Plant Divisions. The material value on hand at the end of FY 2011 totals $5,440,428.75 and is broken down as:

Electric $4,542,228.64
General 38,729.80
Water & Sewer 114,252.44
Power Plant 745,217.87

Tonight, the City is asking the commission to approve writing off $1,350,000 just like it was nothing. The City hopes to get back less than 50 cents on the dollar. It will also be approving nearly $370 thousand in new services, parts and a membership fee to FMEA for Lake Worth Utilities. Lake Worth utilities is and has always been the black hole. This is where large amounts of money are approved, moved around and no one has a handle on any of it. All commissions, without fail, approve of everything when it comes before them from the utility. As Bill Coakley, former Electric Utility Task Force Chairman, would say, you have to put the cash into play before you can steal it.

These supplies have been described as no longer having any use to the City, including obsolete supplies, scrap materials, and supplies that have completed their useful life cycle.The stock items for disposal have resulted from years of decision making processes that were not driven by data and standard specifications. We bought lots of stuff that we never used and allowed it all to sit there obsolescing. Part of the problem was a past commission that made BIG mistakes when it came to our Utility when it approved the 26kv upgrade. This horrendously bad and failed decision has already cost us millions.

This first cut of items totals in excess of $1,350,000. The City says, "It is anticipated that as business practices improve and standard operating procedures are implemented, the on-hand needs will further reduce thereby eliminating the need to outlay excess funds for warehouse stock."

The biggest expense on the list is 155, 100 KVA, 26KV transformer poles that cost us $348,929.80.

Will situations such as this EVER end in Lake Worth?

Aqua America, the PSC and Lake Osborne Estates

State Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla says, "My main goal is to stop utility companies and the Public Service Commission from ripping off consumers. My goal is to stop these tiered rates. To me it is completely outrageous that they are doing what they are doing."

Bill Coakley, President of Lake Osborne Estates Neighborhood Association said, "Aqua purchases water from Lake Worth Utilities, doubles the cost and sells it to Lake Osborne Estates. Sen. Hays has filed a suit against Aqua Utilities. Read about it here.

I still want to know how much money The City of Lake Worth is making off of Aqua Utilities.

Aqua America, Inc. is a U.S.-based publicly-traded water and wastewater utility, serving approximately 3 million people in Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, Illinois, Texas, New Jersey, New York, Indiana, Florida, Virginia, Maine, and Georgia.

"Aqua America is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol WTR. Its aggressive growth-through-acquisition strategy has resulted in nearly 200 acquisitions and growth ventures in the last ten years. These growth ventures have allowed Aqua America to achieve its growth goals and has had a favorable impact on its financial performance."

This seems to be their main interest--growth through acquisitions thus rising stock prices allowing all top executives to become wealthy and part of the 1% at the expense of helpless consumers who have no other choice where they buy their water such as those living in Lake Osborne Estates.

Aqua Utilities a Big Rip Off

Comment Up
Former candidate for Mayor and now President of his homeowner's association at Lake Osborne Estates, Bill Coakley would sure agree with this one. In fact, he has been one of Aqua's big headaches.

Cyber Citizens for Justice reports:

Senator Alan Hays kept his promise: He filed a bill that if it ever became law would all but put Aqua Utilities out of business in Florida.

State Sen. Alan Hays didn't mince words last September when he testified before the Public Service Commission about a proposed rate increase for privately owned Aqua Utilities.

The Lake County Republican told commissioners he would do everything "that is humanly possible" to stop the rate increase, which he compared to "state sanctioned extortion."

"That company is the single source of the most complaints from constituents that come to my office, and it's just rip-off after rip-off after rip-off, and I'm sick and tired of hearing about it," Hays said at the hearing.

Good luck, Senator Hays! Let's just hope your colleagues agree with you -- for the sake of the consumers!

Aqua Utilities asking for another multi-million dollar rate increase

Comment Up
Well if this won't get Bill Coakley (former mayoral candidate in Lake Worth) to rise again among the living, nothing will. He's been fighting helicopter noise ever since he moved to his house on Lake Osborne Drive and no one sees him anymore. Now it is the price of water that will get him hopping again.

He is the President of Lake Osborne Estates Neighborhood Association. They buy their water from Aqua Utilities who buys the water from Lake Worth. Aqua is asking for another rate hike of $4.1 million which will be a 30 to 55% increase.

Bill's main complaint he says, is that "The problem for us IS the rate structure. We are a unique pass-through water consumer. AUF (Aqua Utilities Florida) is not adding any value to the LWU (Lake Worth Utilities) water we receive …yet we are paying nearly double what a Lake Worth resident pays for the same water."

Read about Aqua Utilities trying to screw its customers again and about to hose down Coakley. Coakley says, "This is just more Wall Street thievery, corporate greed being served over public interest. It is obvious that these people are thieves and taking advantage of this situation that has been given to them by the State. It is total abuse of the public by sticking it to them... philosophically, ethically and morally wrong."

Rankings of Importance by Lake Worth City Commission for Utility RFP

Comment Up
UPDATE: MAYOR Waterman says that reliability and price are her priorities. The Commission is now meeting regarding the RFP on our power supply once we exit FMPA. Commissioner Maxwell is right when he says that this Commission is concentrating on renewables at a cost of 10-20% when we are trying to get a favorable price. Renewables were never in our 3 top priorities. It is much more expensive. Commissioner McVoy is ready and willing to charge the rate payers much more money for his green initiative. He wants NO more nuclear.

Blog of 6-10-10
In order of importance:
Lowest score being the top choice--

• 1. Reliability: Varela (4), Jennings (1), Golden (1), Mulvehill (1), Maxwell (5)---Weight: 20%
  

• 2. Competitive Rate/Fuel Diversity: Varela (1), Jennings (4), Golden (2), Mulvehill (4), Maxwell (2)---Weight: 20%
  

• 3. Load estimation/forecasting/Demand: Varela (2), Jennings (2), Golden (6), Mulvehill (2), Maxwell (6) ---Weight: 20%
  

• 4. Use of Renewable Energy: Varela (3), Jennings (3), Golden (4). Mulvehill (3), Maxwell (7) ---Weight: 20%
  

• 5. Bill stability: Varela (5), Jennings (5), Golden (3), Mulvehill (5), Maxwell (3) ---Weight 10%
  

• 6. Own vs. Purchase: Varela (6), Jennings (7), Golden (5), Mulvehill (7), Maxwell (1) ---Weight: 5%
  

• 7. Term: Varela (7), Jennings (6), Golden (7), Mulvehill (6), Maxwell (4) ---Weight 5%
  

As someone recently said to me, "You might wish to use Bill's (Coakley) "Utility Waste Meter" to convey to your readers why 'reliability' should be #1, #2, #3, & #4 on the utilities list of priorities. Had reliability and waste management been at the top of the list, the city would have an additional $1.6 million to spend renovating the pool area.

Every time the utility blows up another piece of equipment, the entire cost of the labor and materials for the removal and replacement comes out of a budget which should be giving back to the city."

As noted above, Commissioners Jennings, Golden and Mulvehill agreed.

Knock your Socks Off - It's Here

Comment Up
The story of corruption and misfeasance in a sleepy little city by the sea.

Click here to
Knock your Socks Off--Screwing Taxpayer Dollars Part I

Lake Worth Electric Utility Upgrade

How to make sure we don't get shafted on the upgrade

WARNING, UPGRADE COSTS COULD DOUBLE

Let me first emphasize that the voltage 13.2 kV is the right distribution voltage to use. The industry mantra ALWAYS BUILD STANDARD was impossible to communicate five years ago despite the utility’s own data which proved the beat up old 4 kV system was operating ten times more reliably than the newer 26.4 kV system they wanted to replace it with.

Read more at Lake Worth Media.

A Second Tie-Line? by William Coakley

Comment Up
Former Electric Utility Task Force Chairman responds to an additional 138kv tie-line proposed by the Utility Director in the scheduled workshop tomorrow morning at City Hall.

Read his article, Utility Workshop, a second tie-line, HERE.