I think I read in the rate sheet they will also start billing for repairs?

Not true as they are a Cooperative.

If that is true than this makes no sense at all. If rental includes maintenance ( repair as well ) than I would have no beef given how costs of materials and labor have risen. But to have such a high percentage increase without including maintenance (??), why that’s highway robbery. Some justification would be needed

Getting factual information is useful
SECO Announcement - what the poles are and why the increase and comparison to other communities
Report of meeting Reaction in TV - (abbreviated to avoid the silly little magnifying glasses that otherwise are magically added to posts)
Reaction reported on CDD7

Please feel free to reply to this with other factual resources to make it easy for people to read all the facts before making comments or supplying false information without factual knowledge.

Doing division is useful, if and only if the both the numerator and denominator are correct. Otherwise it is just 4th grade (?) arithmetic.

ALL Utility companies are guarantied about a fixed return on ASSETS by federal statute.

If the utility company adds assets to benefit the customer, as required by the regulator, the rates will go up.
If the cost of maintenance goes up, the rates will go up.
All interruptions in service are recorded and timed from outage to restoration. Depending upon the storm level, excess times are fined.
All customer inbound service telephone calls are time recorded, there are requirements to answer and provide solutions. depending upon the issues, the company can be fined for poor customer service.
The cost of storm damage is recorded and collected separately and billed recovery over a future time period, not all at once.
The cost of repairing a car damaged telephone pole is recorded and the damaged asset removed and the new pole cost added to the assets for rate recovery. .


If the regulator denies the increase in rates, the utility will sue in federal court and win per the statute.

Each state has different rate setting rules, ie:
NY State allows rate increases to prepay for the investment in assets
MA State only gives rate increases AFTER the asset is in service (the utility has to borrow to make the investment, thereby increasing the cost of the investment)

There is a formula for rates which includes the cost of maintenance.

Utility ratemaking - Wikipedia.

Revenue Requirement formula
The traditional rate formula is intended to produce a utility's revenue requirement:

R = O + (V − D)r
The elements of the traditional rate formula are defined as:

R is the utility's total revenue requirement or rate level. This is the total amount of money a regulator allows a utility to collect from customers.
O is the utility's operating expenses, which are passed through to customers at cost with no mark-up. Examples include labor (for everything from field repair and maintenance crews to customer service and accounting personnel); bad debt expense; interest on debt; depreciation on assets; and federal (and sometimes state) taxes on income. A large operating expense is often the cost of the commodity itself (electricity, or natural gas, or water) purchased by a utility for its customers' use.
V is the gross value of the utility's tangible and intangible property.
D is the utility's accrued depreciation. Combined (V − D) constitute the utility's rate base, also known as its capital investment. Examples include wires, pipes, poles, substations, pumping stations, generating stations, computer software, computer hardware, office furniture, office buildings, etc.
r is the rate of return a for-profit utility is allowed to earn on its capital investment or on its rate base. Non-profit utilities, such as those owned by states or municipalities, or those owned by customers in rural areas (common in the United States) do not add an "r" in the Revenue Requirement formula, nor do they incur income tax expenses.


Progress and population expansion is not free, never has been never will be.
We are living in a developing area, unlike the old parts of the country, where there is no land left.

now enough with the rate increase hysterics. . .

& this is why these are great stock investments, which i include in my "bond investment" category.

:mornincoffee:

Links don't work on this end?

If you can find the correct numbers to put in the numerator and denominator to calculate the increase per rooftop, go for it.

Thank you for explaining this so clearly and factually!

SECO is not a regulated utility (2nd paragraph)

There is no development occurring in CDD5, CDD7, or CDD10. Costs for maintenance and improvement make sense, 600% increases do not.

When Xfinity replaces your modem and increases your $50 internet over $300 you will want to know why and I am willing to be that "supply chain issues" will not be an acceptable answer.

It is not unreasonable to ask how such a large increase was necessary and to demand that the answer be backed up by numbers. Hopefully, our CDD supervisors were provided that information in the closed-door meeting. I am looking forward to that information being published or discussed in an upcoming CDD meeting.

Not many facts in that announcement, only a mention of a substantial increase. No good reason why (supply chain issues) and no idea of the magnitude (substantial), just a statement that we (SECO) are really good guys and we're about to start charging you more.


(NOTE: This forum does not allow you to link to the online paper that shall not be named)

You’re mistaken, the 600 % increase is indeed for the lamp poles. I say take them out of the residential streets. Every house, EVERY house has a light post in front. We do not need the leased light poles on the residential streets. They’re redundant, and the increase is for them.

It could be worse?
 

Things could be worse, residents could be paying local taxes like Wildwood, Leesburg and Fruitland Park residents.

Everything has gone up over our entire lifetime, not just the last three years. It's a normal reality. In the 60's gas was 25 cents a gallon!

I live in a Duke area, my costs are not changing. Why would you include my home in a price increase for an electric company I do not have?

SECO is a cooperative with reasonable rates. They give us HOTBUCKS which are a rebate discount off our monthly bill. Go to northern or western states and see what their rates are currently.