TAMPA - Tampa Electric Co. formally asked state regulators today for permission to increase electric bills 22 percent beginning in January to cover the skyrocketing cost of fuel.
The utility serves 667,000 customers in Hillsborough, Polk, Pasco and Pinellas counties.
Tampa Electric announced in July it was planning to seek a 22 percent increase in consumer fuel costs.
Under the utility’s proposal, residential customers using 1,000 kilowatt hours a month would be paying about $140 a month starting in January, up from $114 now.
Tampa Electric underestimated its fuel costs for 2008 by $209 million, or 20 percent. The utility is asking the Florida Public Service Commission for permission to recover those costs in 2009, in addition to the $1.4 billion the utility expects to spend on fuel in 2009.
“Just as fuel is used to power cars, fuel is also used to power electric generators,” said Tampa Electric President Chuck Black. “This unprecedented run-up in fuel prices has been frustrating for our entire team and truly challenging for our customers on all energy fronts.”
This email is a continuation of the discussion on the SESH email list. I do feel that there is a balance that we as neighbors can come to with the city. TPD is first to tout the lower crimes. We also know that over the years, the city has added new officers to the payroll. It seems to reason that with new officers and reduced crime across the city, there should be manpower to perform the patrols. Below is an email that was sent to the SESH email group.
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If I may…
I am in awe of the work that our neighborhood association has done to make this area a safer and more beautiful place to live. WHile my erratic schedule makes it very difficult to anything that requires evening meetings or patrols, the 5 yrs. that I have lived here I have called in more than my share of suspicious activity. However, Glenn’s letter got me thinking about this a little. I never had to be on hooker alert in Sarasota, or Brandon, or S. Tampa or Carrollwood when I lived or worked in those areas. I realize that the economics of those areas are drastically different than those of our piece of Tampa paradise, but it is not people who are struggling economically that commit crimes, it is criminals who commit crimes, and to suggest otherwise is to show a lack of respect for those who work hard to improve their lives in an honest way. I understand that desperation drives people to do desperate things, but I think an absolute zero tolerance for the criminal element in out ‘hood, while maintaining our compassion for and willingness to help those who don’t see any other way out of their situation is the ideal balance.
That being said, I suspect that there might be a bit if an unspoken expectation that out part of Tampa could never be as safe of a place as the more affluent parts of town, and I would hope that the expressions of frustration and of the desire to turn things around might be met with an open mind by those in charge of allocating sufficient resources to help do so. We should be able to feel safe in our homes and on the street without having to ask our neighbors to drive around at 3:00 in the morning confronting dangerous criminals.
Recently, I had raised the question of Lake Roberta’s condition. By appearance, it would appear that the health of any aquatic life may be in jeapordy. Today’s Tampa Tribune had the following article.
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SEMINOLE HEIGHTS - Lake Roberta is a lime green shade these days, covered with tiny floating duckweed. To many residents, the vegetation is an unexpected outcome of the lake’s recent cleanup.
“My friends refer to it as ‘Swamp Roberta,’” said Wesley Warren, who lives along the lake.
He wants to turn volunteers loose to scoop up the pesky plants in nets. Once cleared, the duckweed could return, but Warren said it can be scooped every two months or so.
Another lakeside resident, Todd Messner, is ready to help. “It looks gross,” he said. “If we could get 50 people with pool screens, it wouldn’t take long.”
City officials have been reluctant to grant permission. They see a health and safety issue if residents wade into water that is filled with nasty runoff from Nebraska Avenue.
“That’s not a swimming pool,” stormwater director Chuck Walter said.
The duckweed is an outgrowth of installing a new sediment trap, stirring up the lake’s sediment and removing debris. Walter said the lake should clear within a year or so.
“It’s a nature-take-its-course scenario,” he said.
The city hired Kamminga & Roodvoets this year to install stormwater pipes and the trap, which is in addition to a trap installed in 2005.
The project cost of about $316,000 was shared by the city and the Southwest Florida Water Management District. The money was part of about $840,000 set aside for an urban lake rescue project for Lake Roberta in Hampton Terrace, Lake Edna in Wellswood and Lake Kipling in South Tampa.
In the 1880s, the spring-fed Lake Roberta was a cattle watering hole. Developers built Hampton Terrace in the 1920s and longtime residents remember well-attended fish-a-thons at the lake.
In the 1930s, the state installed a pipe to drain stormwater into the lake from Nebraska. The city added Roberta to its retention pond system and over the years, debris, oil, fertilizer runoff and exotic vegetation choked and polluted the lake.
Some residents want the lake dredged, but the city opted for a smaller project. Walter said no additional cleanups are on tap.
Warren said he is working with city officials to get an OK to sweep out the duckweed.
“I’m not very worried about health conditions,” he said. “I simply want permission so I won’t get arrested.”
