A day before the Tampa City Council votes on a 25-year franchise agreement with Tampa Electric, community leaders urged the council to postpone its vote, saying the agreement should be changed to promote the use of renewable power.
At a news conference today, church leaders, environmentalists and neighborhood associations said TECO should be producing more electricity from renewable resources. What's more, the current agreement prevents businesses from entering into renewable energy contracts with outside power providers, said C.J. Reynolds of the Tampa Homeowners Association, an association of Tampa neighborhoods.
A delay would give the city more time to change that provision, Reynolds said.
"We're not trying to mandate renewable energy," Reynolds said. "We're defining terms that would allow innovative business-to-business deals."
Under the franchise agreement, which expired in 2007, TECO pays the city to use the rights of way for power lines. Some see the franchise renewal as an opportunity to require TECO to use more renewable power.
"TECO wants to do the minimum," said Donald Mellman, co-founder of the local chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility. "That's understandable, because they make more money."
Mandates for renewable power and energy efficiency fall under the state's jurisdiction, but that shouldn't prevent city officials from trying to shape energy policy, Mellman said.
"All pollution is local," he said. "This pollution affects the poor and disenfranchised."
TECO uses coal to produce about 55 percent of its electricity. About 3 percent comes from renewable resources.
TECO spokesman Rick Morera said much of the information shared at the news conference was inaccurate. He said Tampa businesses already can enter into agreements with renewable power providers and that TECO is doing a lot to increase the use of renewable energy.
"We're the only investor-owned utility in the state that has a renewable energy program that allows the consumer to purchase a block of renewable energy for $5 a month," Morera said. "We've got a long track record of being innovative. We're one of the top utilities in the country on energy efficiency programs."
The city council is scheduled to cast a final vote on the agreement during a 1:30 p.m. meeting Thursday at Tampa City Hall. In November, the council approved the agreement on first reading in a 4-3 vote.
