Tpa, ACTION - TECO Franchise Agmt 11/13 TODAY
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Dena Gross Leavengood
Nov 13, 2008, 9:15:20 AM11/13/08
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From: "Sierra Club - Florida Office" <phil.c...@sierraclub.org>
Subject: Write Tampa City Council - Time for TECO
to Go Green!
ACTION: TODAY, Thursday, ASAP:
Please send a thank you note to the Council Members who voted to rejected
the TECO Franchise Agreement first reading last Thursday night and ask Council
members Miranda, Scott & Miller to join their colleagues in opposition to
the current agreement (details and suggested language
below).
BACKGROUND: At a time when Florida
& America are finally moving away from a reliance on coal, oil & gas,
Tampa Electric (TECO) is doing virtually nothing to change from a utility
heavily invested in coal mines and power generated almost exclusively by coal
& natural gas. While yesterday President-elect Obama's transition
co-chairman Jon Podesta told reporters he anticipates that President Obama will
move "very aggressively and very rapidly on the whole question of transforming
the American platform in the United States from one that's based on high-carbon
energy to one that's based on low-carbon energy", TECO ran a half page ad
this week in the Tampa Tribune bragging how eco-friendly they are, how "they
continue to explore renewable energy options while they lobby against federal
and state standards for renewable energy and themselves generate only 40 kw of
renewable power from 4 small demonstration solar arrays.
Last week Tampa City Council voted 4-2 to oppose (or reject) a 25-year franchise agreement with TECO negotiated by Mayor Iorio's staff. The primary reason given by Council members was that TECO has no plans for renewable energy, and that Council should now give them six months to develop a plan that could voluntarily become an addendum to the franchise agreement. Dozens of citizens agreed with Council that 25 years is a long time, that much is about to change in how we generate energy, and that a franchise agreement should not be silent on this issue at this time. TECO should become a partner with the City and its customers in working together to rapidly move to replacing coal & natural gas with clean, renewable forms of energy.
Council members voting against the franchise agreement were:
1. Linda Saul-Sena
2. John Dingfelder
3. Mary Mulhern, and
4. Joseph Caetano
Voting for it were:
Charlie Miranda and Rev. Tom Scott (Gwen Miller was absent).
ACTION: TODAY, THURSDAY, (the sooner the better): Please send a thank you note to the Council Members who voted to oppose the agreement and question those who voted in favor of TECO. New Tampa's Caetano was the surprise SWING vote.
Please also ask Council members Miranda, Scott & Miller to join their colleagues in opposition to the current agreement. It's believed, had she been present, that Miller would have voted in TECO's favor.
Council MAY revisit this vote TONIGHT, Thursday night. We believe TECO may be pressuring Councilman Caetano especially to change his vote. Please get your email in early TODAY so that your voice may be heard!
P.S. You don't have to live in the City of Tampa to write. If you're a TECO customer anywhere you have a say in this.
CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS:
Last week Tampa City Council voted 4-2 to oppose (or reject) a 25-year franchise agreement with TECO negotiated by Mayor Iorio's staff. The primary reason given by Council members was that TECO has no plans for renewable energy, and that Council should now give them six months to develop a plan that could voluntarily become an addendum to the franchise agreement. Dozens of citizens agreed with Council that 25 years is a long time, that much is about to change in how we generate energy, and that a franchise agreement should not be silent on this issue at this time. TECO should become a partner with the City and its customers in working together to rapidly move to replacing coal & natural gas with clean, renewable forms of energy.
Council members voting against the franchise agreement were:
1. Linda Saul-Sena
2. John Dingfelder
3. Mary Mulhern, and
4. Joseph Caetano
Voting for it were:
Charlie Miranda and Rev. Tom Scott (Gwen Miller was absent).
ACTION: TODAY, THURSDAY, (the sooner the better): Please send a thank you note to the Council Members who voted to oppose the agreement and question those who voted in favor of TECO. New Tampa's Caetano was the surprise SWING vote.
Please also ask Council members Miranda, Scott & Miller to join their colleagues in opposition to the current agreement. It's believed, had she been present, that Miller would have voted in TECO's favor.
Council MAY revisit this vote TONIGHT, Thursday night. We believe TECO may be pressuring Councilman Caetano especially to change his vote. Please get your email in early TODAY so that your voice may be heard!
P.S. You don't have to live in the City of Tampa to write. If you're a TECO customer anywhere you have a say in this.
CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS:
Mary Mulhern
mary.m...@tampagov.net
John Dingfelder
john.di...@tampagov.net
Linda Saul-Sena
linda.s...@tampagov.net
Joseph Caetano
joseph....@tampagov.net
Gwen Miller
gwen....@tampagov.net
Thomas Scott, Chair
thomas...@tampagov.net
Charlie Miranda
charlie...@tampagov.net
SOME SUGGESTIONS:
WHAT TO SAY TO: Linda Saul-Sena, John Dingfelder, Mary Mulhern, and Joseph Caetano:
Citizens should have the opportunity to give the City input on this contract, since we have to live with the outcome. TECO has shown in the past, with their environmental record, they are not a green company, despite what they say in their ad in the Tribune. Thanks for supporting us.
Thanks for voting the TECO contract down. Why do we relegate the negotiations of the Franchise Agreement to just a handful of City staff and TECO? There are many knowledgeable people energy specialists, engineering experts and informed citizens who live in our city and could add valuable ideas. 25 years is an insanely long amount of time for a contract with an electrical utility that primarily uses coal and natural gas and the garbage we produce. Keep up the good work!!
WHAT TO SAY TO: Gwen Miller, Charlie Miranda & Rev. Tom Scott:
Please join your colleagues in holding TECO's feet to the fire and opposing the franchise agreement. The world will be very different 25 years from now, so we need to take a very close look at that contract. TECO has shown, over the years, that they only do the bare minimum to comply with regulations. Please allow time in the next 6 months for President-elect Obama, the new Congress, Governor Crist and the Florida Public Service Commission to set the path towards clean renewable energy, so that the City of Tampa and Tampa Electric can take that path together as partners. Remember, experts now tell that 10 years from now, we'll be paying more for energy the way TECO now generates it from coal & natural gas. Allowing them to do business as usual with the City only sets us up for higher rates in future that if we now started a serious movement towards solar, wind, and biofuels.
Studies show that building and installing renewable energy facilities is the BEST WAY to get our economy back on track: 124,000 new jobs in FL alone, 2 million nationwide. Renewable energy is now America's answer to the challenges of energy independence, economic recovery, national security, and global warming. President-elect Obama & Governor Crist are pointing the way; TECO needs to get on board & partner with Tampa so we can all benefit from the prosperity and security that will come from moving away from coal & gas to solar, wind and biofuels.
mary.m...@tampagov.net
John Dingfelder
john.di...@tampagov.net
Linda Saul-Sena
linda.s...@tampagov.net
Joseph Caetano
joseph....@tampagov.net
Gwen Miller
gwen....@tampagov.net
Thomas Scott, Chair
thomas...@tampagov.net
Charlie Miranda
charlie...@tampagov.net
SOME SUGGESTIONS:
WHAT TO SAY TO: Linda Saul-Sena, John Dingfelder, Mary Mulhern, and Joseph Caetano:
Citizens should have the opportunity to give the City input on this contract, since we have to live with the outcome. TECO has shown in the past, with their environmental record, they are not a green company, despite what they say in their ad in the Tribune. Thanks for supporting us.
Thanks for voting the TECO contract down. Why do we relegate the negotiations of the Franchise Agreement to just a handful of City staff and TECO? There are many knowledgeable people energy specialists, engineering experts and informed citizens who live in our city and could add valuable ideas. 25 years is an insanely long amount of time for a contract with an electrical utility that primarily uses coal and natural gas and the garbage we produce. Keep up the good work!!
WHAT TO SAY TO: Gwen Miller, Charlie Miranda & Rev. Tom Scott:
Please join your colleagues in holding TECO's feet to the fire and opposing the franchise agreement. The world will be very different 25 years from now, so we need to take a very close look at that contract. TECO has shown, over the years, that they only do the bare minimum to comply with regulations. Please allow time in the next 6 months for President-elect Obama, the new Congress, Governor Crist and the Florida Public Service Commission to set the path towards clean renewable energy, so that the City of Tampa and Tampa Electric can take that path together as partners. Remember, experts now tell that 10 years from now, we'll be paying more for energy the way TECO now generates it from coal & natural gas. Allowing them to do business as usual with the City only sets us up for higher rates in future that if we now started a serious movement towards solar, wind, and biofuels.
Studies show that building and installing renewable energy facilities is the BEST WAY to get our economy back on track: 124,000 new jobs in FL alone, 2 million nationwide. Renewable energy is now America's answer to the challenges of energy independence, economic recovery, national security, and global warming. President-elect Obama & Governor Crist are pointing the way; TECO needs to get on board & partner with Tampa so we can all benefit from the prosperity and security that will come from moving away from coal & gas to solar, wind and biofuels.
Sierra Club 85 Second St., 2nd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105
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