Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Talk of the bay: Confidence hard to come by amid housing woes

By Times Staff
Published August 29, 2007

Weak housing news has Florida consumers in a funk. In the University of Florida's latest poll of consumer confidence, respondents reported a 3 point drop in the index, to 78. The last time it was this low, 77, was in August 2006. UF blamed housing, particularly the latest tightening of mortgage credit, for reducing the sense of well-being. It wasn't all bad: The university pointed out that inflation is low and gas prices have fallen. The random August survey took in 508 households.

PSC amped up by energy-saving plan

It's high time for cold showers. Or something like that. On Tuesday, Tampa Electric won unanimous Public Service Commission approval to make its Energy Planner program permanent and expand it beyond the 250 customers that participated in the 2-year-old pilot. The program offers tiered electricity pricing, explained Tampa Electric spokesman Rick Morera. During off-peak demand hours, you pay less for power. During peak demand hours, you pay more, but Tampa Electric switches off some of the electricity hogs in your home, like the hot water heater. During "high" demand times, you'll just have to get used to cold showers. Unless, of course, you're not hot enough already and really want a hot shower. Then you can override the outage, a nifty feature not offered on other peak-demand efficiency programs. Most of the pilot customers saved 10 to 12 percent on their bills, Morera said. Look for it in the spring.

A ruse by any other name ...

Did you catch the grand opening of Florist in St. Petersburg? Neither did Attorney General Bill McCollum. That's because it doesn't exist. McCollum's office has sued a New Jersey corporation and its owner, alleging the company created telephone listings for 53 fictitious Florida florists. Florist in Miami Inc. and owner Thomas Meola face more than 150 violations of Florida's Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act, accused of deceptively advertising to Florida consumers that they were buying from local florists. One violation carries a $10,000 penalty. The state said each "local" business had misleading local names, like Tampa Florist, and local telephone numbers that automatically forwarded to Meola's New Jersey company without customers knowing. Consumers also complained they had ordered and been billed for flowers that were never delivered. The investigation has been ongoing since December 2005.

[Last modified August 28, 2007, 23:02:43]