Biscayne Park citizens want to Stop FPL franchise agreement; Commission vote set for March 3rd

Citizens of the tiny Village of Biscayne Park will have one last chance to stop the approval by their local commission of a 30-year agreement with FPL that villagers say will unnecessarily lock them into a deal with FPL over the use of the electric power distribution grid.

Writing in to the Miami Herald's Soapbox today, villagers voiced concern that the 3-2 majority of the Biscayne Park Commission that already has passed a resolution approving the agreement on first reading, will give in to FPL's demands and approve the agreement on second reading Tuesday night, March 3rd.

Biscayne Park resident L. Bryan Cooper wrote:

Across Florida, municipalities are re-signing 30-year contracts with the energy giant FPL. As written, this franchise agreement ties the hands of cities, towns and villages with respect to their use of the power distribution grid -- at the very moment in our history when a new energy paradigm is unfolding. Groundbreaking solar energy storage models just developed at MIT (http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/oxygen-0731.html) will allow local governments across the Sunbelt to take charge of energy production within their borders. Yet without cooperative distribution capabilities, and the development of future small-scale competitive energy markets, citizens stand to lose.

The Commission meeting is set for Tues., March 3rd at 7 pm at the Ed Burke Recreation Center – 11400 NE 9th Court, Biscayne Park.

The full text of the Soapbox letters are available online, here.