The Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC) provides power utility coverage to approximately 200,000 homes in Sanibel, Cape Coral and Pine Island: three of the hardest hit western zone regions in the Hurricane Ian disaster. Hundreds of people have asked me in my extensive travels why there are zero power trucks visible in Cape Coral working on the power grid, downed power lines and broken infrastructure. Now, it looks like we have the answer.
What LCEC is intentionally doing is jaw-dropping. In all my years of hurricane recovery, there has never –NEVER– been a more crystal-clear example of a decision to put profits over people. LCEC is literally taking advantage of tens of thousands of vulnerable residents. Tonight, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is calling them out [LINK]. I will explain what is happening, but first check out the DeSantis message:
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Today, after receiving a briefing at the State Emergency Operations Center on current efforts to restore power in Southwest Florida, Governor DeSantis called on the Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC) to accept additional mutual aid to expedite power restoration to the residents of Cape Coral, North Fort Myers, Sanibel and Pine Island.
At this time, Florida Power and Light (FPL) has restored power to more than 45% of their accounts in Lee County, while LCEC has only restored power to 9% of their accounts (18,000 out of 183,000 customers). To assist in restoration efforts, the Florida Electrical Cooperatives Association has readied resources from its members around the state that are available to deploy on mutual aid.
Mutual aid would allow the LCEC to expedite power restoration, especially to Cape Coral and North Fort Myers as residents return to their homes and begin the road to recovery. Power restoration in these areas is also essential to resume the full use of essential services such as health care facilities, operation of schools and ensure access to running water. (link)
Please share this part far and wide. You know me to call the baby ugly when warranted; this is one such time. People in the impact zone need to know what is happening.
The Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC) purchases energy from Florida Power and Light (FP&L). LCEC then passes along the energy cost to the Sanibel, Cape Coral and Pine Island residents in the form of traditional electricity billing.
Most of the energy provided by FP&L to southwest Florida comes from natural gas used to generate electricity. Natural gas prices have skyrocketed. Because natural gas has spiked in price so quickly; and because there is a natural lag in billing customers before payment is due; LCEC was temporarily billing people less than the current cost of the energy they were purchasing from FP&L.
The price billed to LCEC customers was short-term lower than the price LCEC was paying for the energy. This resulted in a tens of million-dollar losses for LCEC. [NOTE: this is what is happening in Europe and why the EU central bank is subsidizing free short-term bridge loans to smaller electricity providers]
Rather than add another surcharge to the LCEC customers to make up the difference, LCEC is now using Hurricane Ian as an opportunity to true-up their costs and balance the deficit.
As long as zero electricity is being purchased from FP&L; and as long as customers pay their electricity bills by October 9th (due date), LCEC will have a substantive period of time where their receipts (from customers) exceed their purchases (from FP&L). With inbound income and no outbound expenses, the previous financial deficit is removed.
How does LCEC stop purchasing energy?…. Simple, they just don’t rebuild the power grind, thereby delaying the need for payments to FP&L.
This is why there is almost ZERO effort to restore power in Cape Coral, Pine Island and North Fort Myers and mutual aid providers asking why?
LCEC leadership will likely try to hide behind plausible deniability due to the severity of the damage combined with their “non-profit” status. But make no mistake, we are five days post event and LCEC is not even removing downed power poles and power lines. The mutual aid utility companies are standing there wondering why LCEC is not asking for help. The slow pace is akin to doing almost nothing.
This is a top-level decision by LCEC leadership to put operational profit over the urgent power restoration need of their customers. I guarantee you Florida Governor Ron DeSantis knows exactly what LCEC is doing, and why LCEC is doing it. Unfortunately, DeSantis is being politically diplomatic in sending a shot across their bow rather than directly explain to people what the true motive is behind LCEC’s decision.
Those of you I have met in recent recovery efforts, there’s the answer to your question. LCEC is not making any effort to restore power because LCEC doesn’t want to restore power; at least not yet. A few opportunistic weeks without having to purchase energy covers the prior financial deficit. Yes, Hurricane Ian has provided them an opportunity to recover previous financial losses.
Angry? You bet I’m angry. Now imagine if 200,000 people found out what is really going on.
This is the single most egregious example of putting profits over people in all my years of Hurricane recovery and relief. LCEC is literally blocking recovery efforts because there is a financial reason not to recover. Meanwhile, thousands of people are suffering, businesses are closed and losing money. Worse still food, fuel, healthcare services and water recovery (so much more) are being blocked by this LCEC decision.
Ron DeSantis was far too kind in his approach…. screw the donations and politics of Big Energy. Put Attorney General Ashley Moody on it now or use the power of the Florida Governor’s Office to take control over the utility provider.
Do not give Charlie Crist this opening. Go full wolverine, now.
That said, let’s watch and see how LCEC responds to the forceful nudge.
Is this a liberal stronghold?…..are they trying to hide that the dictates of their anointed leader are going to cause pain in their pockets meaning this delay can be used for a rebalancing of energy payments that are so out of line due to SloJoe’s war on “fossil fuels”…….Dimm/commies are forever trying to hide their true intentions so by the time you know what they are up to it is often too late to make mitigation efforts
Sanibel, is a mini version of Hollywood.
Yeah but Cape Coral isn’t.
Neither is Matlacha and Pine Island.
Sanibel was awesome in the ’80’s when Normals still could afford to live there. Pops would take us crabbing in the Ding Darling.
Aunt lost her home and yeah she loves Obama
Could a secondary purpose for this be to taint Desantis in the media, just as the NOLA Katrina response was used by Nagin and Landrieu to taint Bush?
If so, they’re dumb, Bush didn’t have the cajoled to push back… Karl Rove thought it was bad form to do so.
Cojones, n’est-ce pas?
Allons-y Brandon!
A rose by any other name?
I prefer the term “testicular fortitude”….
Cape Coral is the most based place on the planet, period.
.
Many, many US military vets.
Ever been to the Nature Coast??
Sanibel, yes indeed. Big time.
Pence also has some pals there that he visits around the holiday…fancy that, eh?
My son used to work at The Sanctuary resort there as a personal trainer. Good that he left.
generally speaking yes to your question. there is an enclave of liberal loons in that area.
not in Cape Coral, and not in Lee County in general, Deep Red
No. Lee County is deep Red.
I could not say….I did a year at Nuke School in USN in Orlando from 80-81….I am certain FL has changed magnitudes since then……I am only familiar with Orange County and Daytona Beach really
Lee County in general, is highly republican. Cape Coral has republican leadership. If LCEC is deliberately delaying restoration, this is reprehensible. Without power, you can’t get proper water service, although it is back on.
So LCEC is an effective monopoly supplier?
Start there.
Sounds more Ponzi scheme
No. That’s an entirely different concept.
The southeast US is the last part of the country that has not formed RTO/ISOs and de-regulated their electric utilities. The 1992 legislation would split responsibilities between wholesale supply, transmission, and consumption; the local electric distribution company (EDC) would be responsible for restoring lines, but wouldn’t necessarily own the customer accounts (those are billing companies called load serving entities (LSE)).
By separating duties, the EDC no longer cares about the electricity supply cost; it is incentivized to re-energize as fast as possible, so it can bill the LSE for usage / service charges for the MW that flow on its network.
I could say that about my county in Central Florida. You don’t have options to select for an electricity provider.
Murder -Attempted Murder.
File Charges.
Daily Mail said in an article another two people, a couple, died because of lack of power for their oxygen.
There are probably many older people in a similar situation, Florida is known for retirement communities.
So this economic decision is literally killing people.
Doesn’t take much to knock out the infirm.
a democrat in charge helps eliminate the old and wise as much as he can .#guvCujo of ny did it in huge numbers still not properly “credited “ to his account
Likely it is recorded in his Heavenly account.
I don’t think that is where he is going. More likely he will be taking the down elevator to that Accounts Payable Department.
Oh fear not! He will be “credited” properly one day!
That’s why they were the first demographic to be murdered via forced imprisonment in senior centers along with known infected individuals when covid/flu hit in 2020.
A corporation was succesfully prosecuted for murder, it HAS happened, which means it CAN happen, again.
I should think the same thing would apply to a “coop”, and this is just the kind of aggregious behavior that led to that conviction.
See Illinois case from 1985:
a 59-year-old Pole who was in this country illegally, became sick and died while working at a silver reclamation plant.
The now-defunct corporation, Film Recovery Systems, is charged with involuntary manslaughter; two company officials and two management-level employees are charged with murder.
This is a tragic situation. Shelters are set up for those will special needs. Some counties have a hot line for those who need evacuation assistance before a storm. I am not sure if these services were available to this couple. I know that not all couples have children or family, but I never understand why older people retire to communities or states away from family when the odds are they will be needing assistance in their elder years.
“Angry? You bet I’m angry. Now imagine if 200,000 people found out what is really going on.”
With as many people that back channel network in Florida who also read and comment here, let alone the rest of the country, I doubt there will be a serious time lapse in this information getting shared and people getting rather irritated. My estimate is, by next weekend, this will be a moot point.
The local TV media here in SWFL is not reporting this.
Contact them and demand answers for their lack of coverage.
https://abc-7.com/contact/
https://www.winknews.com/
https://www.fox4now.com/
https://nbc-2.com/
With the prior history the company reportedly has, it seems like the feds and the press would be all over this story, doesn’t it?
This seems egregious enough that even some of the enemedia ought to be reporting it. Are they waiting for more deaths before something is done about this? There needs to be some serious jail time for this BS.
If the MarxMerdia has any agenda in this matter it is as Sundance warned DeSantis, in order to generate a weakness for Crist to exploit.
So at this point silence serves that end, letting the suffering fester and the casualties mount.
I’d be amazed if they didn’t pounce on this to try to help Crist.
Tucker needs to rail.
The local media are third rate news readers. They have pretty good weather reporting though.
And many wonder how corporate cultures could have shifted so quickly and broadly in favor of cheap profit opportunities over customer service. In fact, however, if this is true of LCEC (and I am sure this is true of most public utilities), it’s only because the corporatist nature of governance has been allowed to control our nation for far too long.
I’m certain LCEC, and just about any other public utility, would be all too willing to pull a stunt like this—and pay any penalties imposed by the State of Florida, or by any Court—and pass it along to the taxpayers of Florida or the Nation at large. At least they could charge it against earnings.
DeSantis should be more strict with LCEC as this is but one exemplar.
I’ve noted before that “public-private-partnerships” so often trumpeted in Public Administration and Political Science egghead literatures as the answer to all of our ills are nothing more than Fascism incarnate.
the federal government has also been using private-public “partnerships” to ignore the citizens’ rights protected by the Bill of Rights….they do not even bother to use the old Five Eyes’ dodge of having an outside nation do the snooping….now they use a commercial company to spy on citizens on behalf of the government
Worse yet, a consortium of companies—Google, Amazon, Microsoft, BlackRock—America’s most beloved brands.
I remember decades ago the prophets of New Technologies were trumpeting the praises and promises of “Connectivity” and “Network Organizations”…now we see the evil of it all. We’ve been boxed in, surrounded, 360º of spherical incarceration and control…
It is, after all, the World Wide Web.
And Satan sits at the center of it.
Methinks, there will always be evil people who try to use technology for evil ends.
Black rock can be put in its place quite easy using imminent domain and high taxes on corporate own homes
Google sets up the CIA search and user interfacing…..AWS (Amazon) just got awarded a huge contract to host cloud services for DoD and government agencies
There used to be laws against monopolies like these you just mentioned.
Exactly right!
Good to see you again Sundance!
I just read Elon Musk’s StarLink is donating their services to southwest Florida to help get everyone connected. You probably know that already. Thanks for the update.
https://www.lucianne.com/2022/10/01/ron_desantis_working_with_elon_musks_starlink_to_restore_internet_in_areas_battered_by_hurricane_ian_94766.html
“DeSantis said state officials are using Musk’s Starlink satellites to provide sorely needed communications resources to both residents and emergency crews who’ve been knocked offline.
“They’re positioning the Starlink satellites to provide good coverage to Southwest Florida and other effected areas,” he said at a press conference in storm-ravaged Fort Myers Saturday afternoon.
DeSantis said 120 Starlink units are being positioned to boost internet access in regions hit hardest by the storm.
“They’ve donated all the costs associated with the coverage” DeSantis said, before personally thanking Musk for his help.”
Ugh.
They aren’t moving their satellites, they are positioning receivers, dishes essentially, about the state.
The point of the Starlink system is to blanket the earth with their small satellites to prove coverage for those with receivers, possibly someday being capable of providing cellphone reception.
Starlink sats are low orbit (about 340 mies up) so they aren’t in fixed positions like geo-stationary sats. They are constantly moving but they can also be remotely re-aimed to focus on SW Florida. I’m sure additional reception equipment has been setup in the area to improve bandwidth during the temporary heavy usage of that system.
Refocusing, re-aiming, those are clearly possible and I appreciate the clarification.
It’s the writing that gives the sense that satellites are rushing about to do Elon’s will that just sounds so silly, they don’t have substantial propulsive capabilities, likely only ion-drives for slight adjustments, and, indeed, in LEO they are whipping around the planet and incapable of being held on station or sent to a particular destination.
Yes. It is the entire group of Starlink sats that give the system its utility. Otherwise one could only use Starlink for a short period time until the satellite went out of range.
At this time there are about 2,000 Starlink sats orbiting the earth; one complete orbit takes abut 90 minutes. If you have a clear nighttime sky you can see them looking like a train of white dots moving across the sky.
Good freaking grief. Disgusting.
Charge them with racism as the area communities are not black enough to meet Kamala and the OBiden Regime’s requirements for assistance. They’re own words -even after Court Rulings against other such decisions based overtly in racist hate of economic decisions to aid.
Das Equity. 🤪
My husband works for a public utility and has worked several hurricane restorations. He knows exactly what you are talking about, Sundance. Consider this shared!
The moral decay that is the aftermath of the pursuit of money has never been this bad. This plays right into the WEF plans . Normalize scum like behavior at the expense of the good people of this country. No punishment will come just as it didn’t when democratic governors forced senior citizens with covid into nursing homes to infect the most vulnerable citizens.
People are murdering innocents through out this country on video and are being set free to brutalize the population at will.
The reason there were strict penalties for crime was to it the fear of god into criminals.
Now with the help of gutless citizens who take the progressive/ easy way we are witnessing wholesale country wide corruption on a daily basis .
Immoral behavior is the norm now.
God help us because we as a society sure can’t seem to.
By the way here in New Jersey during sandy the unionized utility companies would not all any non union electrical crews operate in “ their state”.
A friend of mine was without power for over a month because of it.
Nothing happened to them either.
Let’s see what path DeSantis takes in this fork in the road.
The statesman route or the gutless political hack road Chris Christie ,the Bruce Springsteen loving Obama ass kissing ass swipe took.
Christy did nothing and except for lip service it looks like DeSantis won’t either.
Then it is up to the Florida Senate to provide a bill for DeSantis to sign. Let’s see how many aren’t in the pocket of the electric utilities.
Q: How much does a Senator cost?
A: I don’t know, Georgia Power has never sold one.
The ones who aren’t bought and paid for by the utilities will do nothing to make a difference. Just lip service that they can use to propagandize with during their next election.
They always protect each other’s cash cows.
Eventually one hand washes the other.
Corrupt lowlifes go along to get ahead not go along to get along. Always at the taxpayers expense.
They will rail against the wrong doers with a wink and a nod.
Watch what they do not what they say.
Be prepared to be disappointed my friends.
If DeSantis stops with just a sternly worded press conference, then we shall know him. It is sad that when politicians really want something done they unload the entire government upon the person/business/entity it wants changed. Otherwise, they act as though a sternly worded press conference was all that they could do. Then they raise their hands, shake their heads, and say, “I tried. There’s nothing else that I can do.”
Let’s see what Ron does.
Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC)
CEO – Denise Vidal
Know your enemy.
Are the Co-op Board members elected?
Go to lcec.net and locate Corporate Bylaws. Looks like members of LCEC elect the Board of Trustees.
Thank you gildie.
am reading through comments looking for this, as I was going to ask who is “in charge” of LCEC.
i wish i was savvy enough to look up her donations, politics, etc.
Denise looks more like Dennis. Dang
“Non-profit” these days just means what would have been profit in a traditional company are poured back into salary and benefits + bonuses
Not necessarily. Members are credited a fixed amount of their expenditures and placed in a collective pool for capital expenditures. Once a year, based on their yearly payments for services, they are refunded a portion of these credits. I coop by law cannot be a for profit company, they were originally created to provide very rural areas with electrical services the larger Providers bypassed in creating services during the Depression years. Yes, they do purchase their power from larger Power Monopolies but it is at a discount due to bulk rates, very few coops have their own means of producing power. I have belonged to 3 different coops during my life, 2 in Fla and 1 here in Ala, including LCEC in S Fla. In each one, service for downed lines or loss of power were usually very quickly taken care of, except when Irma destroyed everything. I receive a capital credit check from these three coops, I have not lived in S Fla for five years, but the payouts will continue until 2030 or 32, here in Ala I got the final payout from my mother last year, an early payout from her and my father’s acct as I assumed it and continue w/a new acct. The different District Directors are paid a minimum amount to cover travel to and from meetings. They are required to report all capital expenditures and capital credits issued. Major Corps are stock driven and must meet investor demands, why energy stocks usually perform well and return large dividends, even when serious historical expensive natural causes occur, they simply include their projected expenses to their state legistators or governing regulators and get approval for rate hikes. All of this crap about green energy and cleaner means of producing energy is the biggest load of hog crap, the same load being pushed on consumers for the last 50 yrs by the socialists trying to destroy our economy and force everyone into centralized-controlled housing-. The cleanest and most effective green energy is Nuclear, other than the used spent fuel rods. And Obama killed Yucca Mt depository that would have been a safely stored spent fuel rod and reprocessing facility in Nevada, but that would have been unacceptable to all the graft and corruption he and his elitist/socialist friends due to green energy contracts given to be stolen during his administration, all of which went belly up within 3 years. There is no such thing as inexpensive green energy.
As OBiden Regime has done in the past, they will put certain communities in “back of the queue” .
Once power is restored, it will be something else denied or delayed.
Shine a light very bright and constant on these communities during recovery.
Kamala made it very clear -in her own stupidity -what they are plotting.
https://www.foxbangor.com/national-news/kamala-harris-ripped-for-claiming-governments-hurricane-ian-relief-will-prioritize-communities-of-color/
If they delay turning on the power for two weeks, that mean there will be 2 weeks of less power to bill for on the next billing cycle. Perhaps the natural gas costs and electricity charges will equal out, but overall it will be halved (in regards to monthly costs/revenue). That means half the natural gas cost, half the electricity revenue but also half the profit. I don’t know what that means but less profit can’t be a good thing.
Photo of the Sanibel Island Lighthouse in February 2022 compared to how it looks today. The lighthouse remains, but keeper’s house is gone. The lighthouse has survived every storm since 1884.
The Sanibel Island lighthouse is seen after Hurricane Ian, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, on Sanibel Island, Fla.
AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee
THESE ARE ” TOUGH OLD GIRLS ” Iron Structure Light Houses !
The WIND Can’t get a Good Bite on Them and as long as the Foundation isn’t Scoured Away THEY STAND
https://thesancapguide.com/history/forgotten-tales-of-the-sanibel-island-lighthouse/
This is exactly the situation wherein a cooperative may become a REGULATED utility. And this emergency is exactly why they become regulated.
Wanting to keep your balance sheet looking good during a state of emergency is what I would call a crime, and that is what I wish DeSantis had said and might still.
And Chrisst. He is a has been. Can’t believe anyone would consider voting for him after his involvement in the whole Scarborough aide “murder mysterty.” But some people will just vote for him because he’s a Republican (my sisters included). Just like with b(x)andon.
Sorry for the rant. Prayer’s for right action from DeSantis.
Ooops— will vote for Chriist because he’s a Demorat.
He WAS a Republican, before he ‘became’ a Democrat, and absolutely NOTHING changed, except the letter after his name.
I am trying to get this right Sundance, er now you kinda like DeSantis who before you did not trust as a Trump underminer…? What are the rules again?
The rules are you take care of the well-being of your citizens.
You respect human life.
Point out the weaponization of Government and agencies for political score.
A very important part- that anyone can do- Shut down foolishness.
Jacob,
Sundance Didn’t say he didn’t “like” DeSantis,, said he has been a good Governor, and wants him to win.
And, he is not saying he “kinda likes” hom, now.
Reading and comprehension, not your strong point, right?
Sundance pointed out FACTS; the obvious “tells” that indicate DeSantis is running for more than Governor, and is making all the moves a GOPe candidate makes, when positioning themselves for a POTUS run.
And, in this article Sundance said DeSantis KNOWS what the utility cooperative is doing, and why,…and lets see how DeSantis handles it.
No “Likes” or “dislikes” involved.
🙂
Please…. De Santis is suspect here because of his Wall St/ K Street donors.
Will he rise above them or will he not.
DeSantis is fine as Governor of Florida. Let him stay there for another full term.
From Sundance’s post above:
“Ron DeSantis was far too kind in his approach…. screw the donations and politics of Big Energy.”
It seems, to me, that Sundance has been pretty consistent in his criticism of DeSantis, the governor even in this case is still trying to please his big donors.
It is this behavior that makes RD “palatable” to the GOPe and abhorrent to the America First people.
I am going to repeat what Dutchman said “Reading and comprehension, not your strong point, right?” but I am going to add that I think you are acting like a smart***.
“You know me to call the baby ugly when warranted…”
“ Ron DeSantis was far too kind in his approach…. screw the donations and politics of Big Energy.”
The devil here is LCEC. You appear to understand that.
Looks like you didn’t read all the fine print though. DeS could/should have tackled it head on instead of tiptoeing around it, or do YOU agree with that approach?
Waiting…..
The rule is to do your own research and make up your own mind.
I wouldn’t be surprised to find this company virtue signals by using the ESG ratings.
Can you imagine if DeSantis had not won that close election?
it’s because LCEC leadership sees their customer base as a colony.. a crowd of soulless slaves.. not people..
Vladimir Putin is spot on about what is seriously wrong in America..
Profit over people!!! Sickening
Maybe Ron DeSantis doesn’t want to look stupid by accusing a non profit company for being too focused on profit.
LCEC is not focused on “profit”, per se, but inappropriately focused on reducing their financial losses, at a time when thousands of people have lost everything, some even their lives. LCEC has no excuse for not utilizing all available resources to immediately restore power to their customer base.
The time to worry about accounting statements is after the infrastructure is back up and operating.
Perhaps I’m missing something, but…
It seems DeSantis was “calling on” versus “calling out” which would imply holding their feet to the fire.
But “Calling on” to do what–take some more “mutual aid” (money)–IN ORDER to expedite–sounds like a weird kind of bribe to me–to do what they should already have begun–and in fact are way over due in performing their sacred duty.
Mutual aid means other power companies are there to help get it back up and running, per cooperation agreement. They all do it for each other.
Ah, thank you. I was missing something. Grateful for the clarification. I did have the thought that I was reading the article way too late in the evening!
If I am not mistaken in an emergency situation under a mutual aid compact the additional cost of the aid is picked up by the state and federal authorities so it is a cost SAVINGS for the utilities……round the clock power line repair become exorbitantly expensive
You hit the nail on the head. I have several friends in the Cape to share this with. So many thanks for figuring this out. Devil’s advocate (likely not true) but I have seen power lines down all over Ft Myers, but poles down in the Cape. It was closer to the eye wall.
I live in Lee County, Fort Myers, Florida. My electricity went out Wednesday morning and Florida Power and light restored it approximately 8 pm Thursday. I expected to be out for days if not weeks. My community pumps its own water from lakes on the property and the water was down less than a day.
We were lucky and only suffered wind damage and no flooding. Praying for those that lost homes and livelihoods.
People that live on Pine Island, Cape Coral, Matlacha, and Sanibel should be up in arms.
I’ve had a strange thought the last couple days – given the Demoncrats never let a disaster go to waste – what if stalling out restoration has multiple purposes? Think about the coming mid-terms – how many will not be able to vote because there is no voting poll to go to? Not to mention tens of thousands of displaced voters.
Great point….our only salvation is that FL has a Republican Governor. Imagine the shenanigans, post hurricane, that would be happening if the Governor were a Dem.
Unfortunately there are a lot of Dims in Fl who would stop at nothing to try to overthrow DeSantis. I would find it hard to believe that they have not already considered how to use this. The question is – has the DeSantis team thought of this as well?
I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that LCEC is purposely choosing to make Cape Coral residents suffer on top of suffering, and is purposely hindering the effort to restore power, just so they won’t have to sell us power at the rate they agreed to charge us for the month of October.
And just like all the other times LCEC has screwed over it’s customers, when Cape’s resident go to the mayor and tell him to cancel LCEC’s contract immediately, he will once again say that if we aren’t happy with LCEC’s service, we should write them a letter and tell them how we feel.
Then he will retract into his little turtle shell of zero responsibility hoping we will go away before the daily pile of cash, cocaine, and human trafficked sex slaves LCEC’s board sends over to him, show up.
I can use see some managerial meeting at LCEC discussing the issue of billing vs cost, and coming up with that ‘light bulb’ moment to use the hurricane in order to alleviate their profit loss.
Greed is holding the world captive.
DeSantis made a speech last week warning of price gouging. This is even more egregious. At least with price gouging, there is an opportunity to purchase. With no competition available, there is NO opportunity to purchase. LCEC should be put on notice that their ability to do business in Florida depends on their actions in the next 3 days. They either need to catch up to the Florida Power levels by Wednesday or prepare to close their business.
Electric co-ops have outlived their usefulness in most states and need to be absorbed by larger utilities.
Out here in the wide open rural spaces of the American West electric co ops are the only way we get power and the large electric companies do not want anything to do with us.
Rural areas in much of the USA are difficult and expensive to service and takes a particular kind of approach that the co ops provide.
The larger utilities do no want to come any where near us.
I agree as they provide the services in very rural SE USA.
Not necessarily, read below. Coops were formed during depression to provide rural areas with electricity because the larger Companies did not want the headaches of the service associated with the rural areas.
May God have mercy on their rotten souls
So, who is the President, Treasurer, Comptroller of LCEC, and where do they live? We’d bet these upstanding, public-spirited executives had personal residences’ utilities restored six hours after Ian’s landfall. As for gubernatorial political implications, Crist is by definition worthless… from DeSantis’ standpoint, he counts as a Free Lunch.
The Corporate Bylaws of LCEC require Board of Trustees to reside in the District they represent.
Lcec.net
Unreal. What else is unreal is the limited availability of gas out here in the sticks west of Ocala. Many gas stations still have bags on the nozzles. One tanker came by to one particular Circle K in the morning, but they put the bags back on by noon. Some-damn-body has been told to slow walk our recovery.
A thought just came to me. Given how much the Elites would love to own beach front property, would it make sense for them to destroy the lives of the little people by slow walking the recovery so that they leave the coast of Florida and move inland or out of Florida? Then they can turn that part of Florida solid, wealthy blue?
Yes.
Sweeping plebs off the coasts is nothing for those willing to jab them off the planet.
Interesting point.
The nudge worked apparently….
Channel 2/7 is now reporting that about half the customers in the Cape now have power. Their numbers are 4500 out of 9000.
Just one tiny area. Currently 79.12% of LCEC customers are blacked out. So they’re at 194505 out of 245648 still without power, and keep in mind if the 50ish thousand people who do have power right now, some never lost power to begin with.
You can see the the numbers any time you want.
https://outagemap.lcec.net:35443/mapwise/maps/Outage%20Web%20Map/
The shining upside to all this is SW Florida may get to vote on watermarked, handcounted paper ballots, while the rest of us get to hope the glorified slot/fax machines decide to count our votes the way we intended.
I would tel them they have 24 hours to get to fixing the grid or they can consider their partnership dissolved and it will be promptly handed to someone else who will take care of the customers.
BREACH OF CONTRACT.
Not just breach of contract.
It would be murder, or manslaughter at the very least, negligent homicide.
A full investigation of the corporate officers is warranted, followed by prosecution if the facts can be shown, which seems likely.
Greed not communism will be the downfall of America!
Greed and envy are the foundations of Communism.
It’s also very convenient that yesterday was the beginning of the Gas Tax Holiday Month, and many stations still don’t have fuel…
They need power first.
Power never went out here. we were out of gas a day and a half before Ian made landfall.
Isn’t this a form of looting?
That would be a succinct and powerful summation for a citizens’ campaign to force awareness of the issue.
Residents should start going to LCEC meetings like they should be attending their HOA and CDD meetings here.
Hmmm, created shortages as a way to wealth by gouge. Sounds like our green scumbags.
I understand what LCEC is doing now, but I don’t understand why they didn’t pass on their increased costs to customers before just as other power companies have done and are doing.
I am sure that people who don’t pay their bills by Auto-Pay are not exactly concerned about the electric bill that might be still sitting on the kitchen counter in their flooded or destroyed homes that they can’t return to because there is no power. They have a few other things to worry about.
So, the hope that LCEC has that most people will be paying their bills by October 9 is somewhat misguided.
More than likely there is more to it than just LCEC. The preponderant electric source (nat gas, solar, etc.) varies by county. I have friends who worked with their local provider (Jax area) recently when construction on their new home home was completed. The provider, to remain unnamed, offered two different payment schemes depending upon whether the customer opted for solar only or traditional sources. Sidebar note: my friends had to agree that local solar they generated could not be made available to the grid. The solar only option was significantly cheaper (i.e., incentivized). I thought the scheme was hard to nail down given how electric grid works – during peak/high usage hrs electrical service can be flexed across connected grids. How would an electrical utility track unit metering to source on a real time basis? Maybe they can, but it was not immediately apparent to us. Further complicating matters, electrical utilities are heavily regulated. Does the regulatory authority permit such servicing tactics as LCEC is being accused – especially during declared emergencies? I think we all know the answer. Which leads to the inevitable – what were they thinking?
It seems that LCEC is banking on plausible deniability, for some neighborhoods in their coverage area won’t be ready to restore electricity for months and others for weeks. However, I watched a video driving around Cape Coral and it looked like the vast majority of the city had no downed power poles or lines and no significant damage. It appeared that the most dangerous thing was that the stoplights weren’t working because there was no electricity.
Do an internet search of “LCEC equity check”. The higher the net margin of the coop the bigger the “equity check” returned to the members.
<a href = https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/facing-a-dire-storm-forecast-in-florida-officials-delayed-evacuation/ar-AA12sq4i?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=d69f9adfa222481fa00b614e783a19ae > Lee county delay in evac too? </a>
LCEC only exists because no other provider wants to accept responsibility for providing power in a SW Florida swamp. For the exact reasons we are seeing, it’s not a realistic place to build or live.
It’s a local co-op managed by local people and exists because people choose to live in stupid places.
Again as a native I say that these are the results of irresponsible people building in irresponsible places and expecting others to bail them out when things that are expected to happen… actually happen.
So now you will see the call to disband LCEC and shift the cost of rebuilding and maintaining a unrealistic area with power shifted to everyone else in the state. Just like my insurance premiums offset and pay for poor housing construction in unlivable places so will my power bill… Lucky me!
This is what socialism actually is… Taking from my pocket to pay for someone else’s poor choices to live in the Everglades.
Florida is over populated with millions of homes being built on flood planes, swamps and former lake beds that were drained off by the army corps engineers in the 1930-40s to produce crops and grazing land for cattle. It was never meant for residential living and especially not whole communities.
But oh lordy… Those of us who have lived our lives here, know the history and gone through many of these storms are just mean people for saying the obvious.
71 yo native here now living in South GA. Husband and mom retired from lcec. I know the history. But LCED needs to get the power back on in this disaster, no matter what.
I’m doubtful of the founding myths of LCEC and feel it was sold to locals as a way to gain support for a localized monopoly. Having lived in swfl for over 20 years, I’ve had both FPL and LCEC as providers. FPL is far superior. I was shocked to find our when I purchased my current home that I had to become an LCEC customer. I was even more shocked to find out that LCEC buys FPL’s power, sells it to me at a higher rate, and then charges me a monthly membership fee for the privilege of not having a choice and having to pay them more. I’ve had natives swear to me that LCEC doesn’t do that, but I’ve had the bills in hand from the same month of service that proves otherwise. FYI – my current place in Lehigh isn’t in a swamp. I’m on some of the highest ground in the county – even higher and closer to civilization than my previous place (where I was an FPL customer). Also, I am currently still without power, even though I can cross the street from my block in any direction and find houses that have had power for two days. LCEC is a ponzi scheme that needs to go.
BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!! You seriously are confused on how electric utilities work in the USA. Even in the fully deregulated states, the distribution utility is a local monopoly. That is due to federal decisions made a hundred or more years ago. How would you like to have 3, 4, 7, 15 different utilities run their own distribution lines all over? You would not be able to see the sky due to the number of lines strung everywhere.
Not confused at all – I’d just rather have FPL. While they might both be monopolies, my point was that LCEC has created a very small localized one that charges me significantly more for power they don’t even generate. They created a middle man monopoly that passes on increased cost to me with poorer service in return. I was also casting doubt on their argument they sold at their creation, which they in turn their existence to. If they did in fact start to provide service to areas too risky for FPL, then why does FPL service all of the same areas – in many cases on the same street?
I have both FPL and a Local Co-op. You speak about being charged a surcharge for those who built in areas that are iffy. Well FPL recently instituted a minimum payment to cover costs for their line operations. Not only did my 100% solar friends but my business location just had our bills go up to pay the minimum. So FPL has already been upping costs where there is no usage.
FYI, LCEC leases all its towers, lines, and structural equipment from FPL, (besides purchasing electricity) although on a different but leased power grid. There is no “local monopoly” in SW Florida except ultimately FPL, the lease holder.
LCEC is fully responsible for its power grid maintenance even though it surrounds FPL controlled locales which maintain there power grids separately from other local providers. When FPL blacked out in Miami in around 2008-9, none of the local provider areas were affected even though surrounded by local providers: for example, Alva, a small FPL area blacked out with Miami back in 2008-9, while the surrounding areas controlled by smaller providers remained unaffected.
LCEC needs to be hammered hard for this and just like the securities industry, further regulation is needed because of human greed. Remember the tranches of bundles of foreclosures morphed into a new security called derivatives which cratered the economy in 2007-2008 by greedy financiers. Our sin nature necessitates regulation in these areas and that’s coming from a civil libertarian.
If you get your electricity bill from a cooperative, you are a MEMBER-OWNER! Show up at a board meeting – they must conduct them open to the public – and if you bring a member of the press and complain openly about what is going on, you just may get some action! You as a member-owner have more clout than you might think.
I have some friends where they live everything was put in under ground to keep the area pristine. It took me a while to figure out why it felt different once I entered their hood. Nothing really to do w/your comment other than the 3,4,7, 15 utility lines blocking the sky. It is also nice when storms hit, their lines don’t go down.
Sadly, we are affected because we are fed from those areas above ground. We are still without power a week later.
I hope you start raising hell about this, and get a special district utility from FPL. It’s a well-run company. Best wishes for your rebuild.
I worked for an electric co-op for 14 years. If you receive your power from an electric cooperative, you are a member-owner – SHOW UP AT A BOARD MEETING and bring a member of the press with you. You just may, by being the squeaky wheel, get some action. Trust me – I’ve been through some of those board meetings and when you as a member-owner HOWL, they have to listen and act.
I have almost no pity for people who build their “houses on sand.” In fact, I leverage my investments heavily in the energy sector whenever hurricanes form, precisely to profit on the predictable stupidity of others. To be fair, though, thinking back at the context for my attitude, Jesus never expressed His opinion on people who build their houses in swamps. That’s probably because He never could have imagined that people could be so utterly stupid, and He’s seen and judged a lot of stupid. So we have out-stupided an all-knowing God–congrats to the human race!
It’s a 500yr flood! So everybody should think ahead about 500 yr floods before they buy or build?? If one takes your attitude, all of Florida south of Orlando should not be there because that where the Everglades started. Before it was trenched and drained to make land.
It sounds like all the liberal naysayers are coming out of the Treehouse woodwork!
Kiss my sun tanned ass.
You nailed it. And it is why not even Florida’s faux “freedom” example can lead Socialist America out of its looming ruin. 90% 0f us are hapless, irresponsible, crybaby lemmings, looking for some big savior to hook us up to the “grid” or the “matrix” or whatever. Sure, these fools delude themselves in hypotheticals that there can be a balance between freedom and dependency; but there cannot be, not when faced with the reality that abject greed manifests every time in men who gain even the tiniest bit of power over other men. This is a perfect, undeniable example, right here in Swampville, USA.
From SD’s article I don’t think this is about the folks living in those areas wanting the rest of the state to pick up their tab and bail them out. The point is that they aren’t even getting the chance to get power restored and willingly pay the surcharge.
Gov. DeSantis Calls Out Lee County Electric Cooperative for Intentionally Delaying Power Restoration after Ian
https://diannemarshallreport.com/gov-desantis-calls-out-lee-county-electric-cooperative-for-intentionally-delaying-power-restoration-after-ian/
I have said for decades…The govt has no business insuring things that are inherently uninsurable…Like nuclear power, like ocean/gulf-front properties (Citizens), like living on the Mississippi Delta, etc.
Risk is risk, and should be borne by the risk takers, not the taxpayers.
Question…Are these utility assets INSURED? Do they have money set aside to pay the deductible?
Does Puerto Rico have its gov’t building and utilities INSURED, or, living in a hurricane zone, does it expect all the mainland taxpayers to rebuild ITS ENTIRE GRID, AND ALL ITS GOV’T BUILDINGS??
FEMA needs serious overhaul, and aside from this particular utility, taxpayers should NEVER be saddled with bailouts for irresponsible conduct!
It’s a local co-op managed by local people and exists because people choose to live in stupid places.
No, unlike you knowitalls who would deny citizens their freedom to choose where to live, well knowing that there’s a hurricane every now and then, these local people are well within their rights to accept those risks and make that choice. Beats being ruled by a politburo of Planners.
Quite right. It is hard to find a place to live that isn’t threatened by natural disaster. Hurricanes are one form, but remember there are also tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, blizzards, ice storms, floods, dust storms, katabatic winds, forest fires, and I may have missed some. That’s not to ignore man-made disasters such as high-crime urban areas, car-jacking, looting, and riots.
There is no place that is risk-free.
I don’t think that was his point or what he said. You can chose to live wherever you want, but he and others shouldn’t have to subsidize the cost of electricity or the repair of it or the repair of houses, etc. through increased insurance premiums to cover the losses of those people who live in statistically dangerous or accident prone areas.
Sure, insurance is all about spreading risk, but some risk is just TOO risky. Houses built in areas that are prone to disasters should be in a separate risk pool perhaps. I’m guessing that’s his point. For example: I don’t care if someone decides to ride a motorcycle and NOT wear a helmet. That’s their choice. But when they wreck and have brain damage and have to be cared-for for the rest of their lives at an enormous cost, why should I have to help fund that sort of reckless stupidity? I’m willing to insure bikers who wear helmets and protective clothing. but I’m NOT willing to pay an extra $1000/yr because some weekend warrior wants to drink beer, ride his bike in flip-flops, and no helmet which puts my money at unnecessary risk. They need a special high risk pool of other careless bikers to be bundled with. Then when they have to pay accurate rates that reflect their type of behavior they aren’t affecting others outside that pool and they might alter their behavior when their premiums double or triple.
It’s an Australian based company, not local
As much as I would like to criticize your review, I cannot disagree. If I made the choice to live under such conditions, you can bet I would be heavily invested in off-grid resources of almost every kind. Those who are not are now dealing with the consequences of their choices. I have said this very thing as it relates to hurricanes in Florida. So common.
That said, no amount of off-grid resources will be meant to survive indefinitely and would only to be used to survive a reasonable gap in services. It sounds like even the best prepared people in those regions will suffer because of immoral priorities.
Thanks for your kindness and compassion. Ha. I have never asked for anything in my life and I am not stupid. I will now help my community and do all I can to come along side those who are suffering.
There are s disasters all over the world, not just south Florida! There are a lot of people who are old and infirm who need electricity to power machines to keep the alive, I’m one of them! Shame on LCEC for not being transparent in their dealings with their customers!
You could always move? News flash. They are never ever ever going to stop building homes in Floridas Coastal Areas. You best leave soon.
Sanibel Island is reputedly the home to many retired Clowns in Action.
My experiences, and they are many, during the aftermath of any hurricane that knocked out the power grid, and that is most, the power companies, both local and those who came to aide in power restoration, were working as hard as possible to get to areas that were cleared enough to access. I’ve lived in metropolitan areas along the coast and directly on the coast. Sometimes it took almost 2 weeks to restore power. That’s a lot of nights trying to sleep with the windows open to try to catch even a slight breeze in unbearably hot weather and a shotgun close at hand. Depending on the ability to clear the roads was always what depended on how long it took to get power again. I can’t say I’ve ever seen or heard of money becoming a factor in restoring power, nor should it be.
Now, there were scalpers all around in other commercial areas, such as sales of ice before power was restored or individual gas stations once power was restored if they didn’t have a hand crank, which was usually only in the more remote areas along the coastline; but the Governor would always make clear any funny business would be dealt with by the AG and the price for crimes during an emergency situation would be steep.
Thank you. And this debris field is huge and widespread. Frustration is huge.
I do not live in a hurricane area. I do not live in an area that gets ice storms. Spent 2 weeks in winter in cold house without electricity due to a severe ice storm. Damage was great. This storm took the substations out, which are a main issue in those areas in the Ft Meyers locations.
Those in those areas are tired. Their lives are now sitting mangled. Time will help restore their strength. They need to vent…we can listen. All of us are on pins and needles these days due to the corruption and place our government has put us…and there is a point where one just must get angry and scream…and then pick up the shovel, rake and debris. One step at a time.
Are you sure you don’t mean Jupiter Island, which is on the Atlantic coast, just north of Palm Beach?
That’s where all the wealthy pro golfers live.