Facts about the County's Franchise Fees.....they're Capped and Have NOT been Increased in Nearly 30 Years

The county charges utility providers franchise fees.  The rates have been static for nearly 30 years.  The fees are charged to utility providers in exchange for such providers' use of the various public rights of way needed by these companies to service their customers.  This practice is ubiquitous throughout the state and in counties throughout the country.  Moreover, it is an important revenue source for the county.

Unlike the city of Pensacola--our County's rates are derived as a percentage of the utility commodity utilized by the consumer--currently 5% of the bill, capped at $10.00.

The rate paid by utility consumers within the city limits of Pensacola are 6% of the utility commodity utilized--without any cap on the total amount.

This distinction is important.

It means, in a nutshell, that the recent utility bill spike in FPL bills that is hurting individuals is much more acute in the city of Pensacola---as their franchise fee increases proportionately as the bills increase (according to staff familiar with this matter)---whereas in the county this fee is capped at $10--regardless of how high a bill gets we are capped for a residential customer at $10.

In 2012, the county commission attempted to raise the, at that time nearly 20 year old,  franchise fee cap by 50%--from $10 to $15 dollars--which would have raised a considerable, additional amount of revenue for the county as it continued to struggle to pull out of the Great Recession.

That 2012 initiative failed by a 2-3 vote, with Grover Robinson and Marie Young voting for the increase, and Commissioners White, Valentino, and Robertson voting no.

Read the 1994 Escambia County Franchise Fee agreement here.

Read the 2012 agenda item, suggested revision, and vote tally here

What has Escambia County Collected in Franchise Fees from the County's Electric Utility Provider over the Last 5 Years?

 

	Actuals	Actuals	Actuals	Actuals	Actuals
General Fund:	FY21	FY20	FY19	FY18	FY17
Electric Franchise Fee	12,303,490.47	11,998,982.63	11,813,944.03	11,877,215.44	11,353,718.47

In light of everyone's Florida Power and Light (FPL) bill increasing--some have asked what  Escambia County collects in the way of franchise fees from this, the county's energy provider.  Over the last five years, as illustrated in the chart above, it is about $12 million per year.  This money goes into our general fund which pays for a LOT of the county's operations.

With a barrage of emails complaining about the FPL power increases and the stories of bills doubling and tripling in some cases, it is important to know this information.   Because I am getting emails like this:

"My power bill jumped from 160 to 292 in 1 month I went back and checked my power bill in January has been a little over 200 till this year upon going back and looking at my old bills I had never been charged something called a Fuel Charge and it was 67.45 what are the people of this county supposed to do allow Florida Power to do what they want when they want I'm confined to a hospital bed living on limited income has escambia county become a prisoner to a utility service that our county commissioners should have a say in thank you for listening..after spending over a hour with Florida Power today I learned you are charged one rate for 1000 kilowatt hours or less but when you go over the 1000kw hrs your charged 22% more for your power but nobody seems to answer why this is what difference does it make if I use 1000kw hrs or 3000kw hrs shouldn't everyone pay the same amount for power some things just aren't fair"

And I am sure my peers on the board are getting these sorts of emails as well.

According to the county attorney, our portion of the bill is based upon the size of the user's bill--and capped at a maximum of $10.00 per billing cycle.  In other words--our franchise fee is not the culprit responsible for these bills going through the roof.  According to Alison Rogers, the attorney for the board, the current agreement in force is some 30 years old.  A previous iteration of the Escambia  Board of County Commissioners attempted to update the agreement in 2012, but the vote to approve a new agreement failed by a 2-3 vote at that time.

I am certain this topic will be discussed at some point in our meeting tomorrow morning.  I also plan on having a representative from Florida Power and Light come to my town hall on Tuesday--I have made the invitation and am waiting a confirmation of his attendance.