Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
Talk of the bay
Progress Energy retained by Orange County cities
By LOUIS HAU
Published August 29, 2005
The Orange County cities of Maitland and Edgewood agreed last week to sign 30-year franchise agreements with Progress Energy Florida, keeping the St. Petersburg utility as their electric company.
Maitland, with a population of about 16,500, had considered dropping Progress, buying its electrical system from the company and hiring the Orlando Utilities Commission to run it. But in the end, the Maitland City Council voted 4-1 in favor of staying with Progress. Mayor Sascha Rizzo was the lone dissenting vote. Rizzo didn't return phone calls seeking comment.
Similarly, Edgewood, a much smaller city of about 2,100 residents, voted 3-1 to approve a new franchise agreement with Progress after giving consideration to hiring the Orlando utility. Progress has signed franchise agreements with 36 Florida cities since 2001. The lone holdout during that time was Winter Park, where citizens voted in 2003 to establish their own municipal electric utility. Belleair has scheduled a referendum in November to decide whether to do the same.
[Last modified August 26, 2005, 20:44:01]
Share your thoughts on this story
|
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Email editor
