Sunday, August 5, 2018

What is going on at the Lake Worth Electric Utility?


Get all the latest developments and updates about the Lake Worth Electric Utility (LWEU) straight from the source:

Director Ed Liberty and utility staff.


Click on this link to hear the audio from the Electric Utility Advisory Board (EUAB) meeting held on Wednesday, August 1st.

This meeting followed the Special City Commission meeting held the day prior which was all about one topic: the Electric Utility.

Liberty begins speaking at the 3:00 mark in the audio and his first presentation is about twenty minutes long. Following Liberty is much more information from utility staff and more updates from Liberty. For example, at the 52:00 minute mark he begins to explain about LWEU, “We are growing.” The utility went from 410 kWh supplied to customers to 472 kWh in 2017, the utility power plant has space on the property for an industry to be creative and make use of the City’s valuable high-pressure natural gas line, and there is plenty of competition from outside power providers to enter the LWEU market.

Other topics Liberty discussed were the reorganization of the LWEU, the drop in costs to purchase power in FY2019 and FY 2020, and the increase in revenue from pole attachments by Comcast, AT&T, and other vendors.

Yes. LWEU has a lot of challenges. However, there are a lot of very good things happening as well.

And if you happen to be a communication firm and have attached any equipment to an electric pole owned by the City of Lake Worth, and have not received permission or negotiated a price, expect to be contacted some time soon. The City of Lake Worth encourages commerce but the City’s electric poles cannot be used for free.

Basically, some communication companies have been “squatting” on LWEU electric poles for many years. That is going to change and increase revenue to the LWEU significantly.

The entire audio is a little over two hours and includes a lot of information. Lisa Maxwell is the Chair of the EUAB; click on this link to look over all the City’s volunteer advisory boards and use this link to find out more about the LWEU.