City Officials Knew Conservation Programs Would Increase Electric Rates

The City of Tallahassee recently ignored a cost effectiveness analysis which indicated that all 191 proposed measures to save electricity through conservation would increase electric rates. Instead of relying on the analysis as a guide, the City Commission voted to ignore the results and approve an alternative methodology that would allow the City to move forward with conservation […]

Is the Tallahassee Democrat Becoming Irresponsible?

On Thursday, March 12, 2009, a front page article featured a picture of Jack Diestelhorst,  the founder and co-owner of Notary Public Underwriters in Tallahassee, Florida standing on the roof of his office building  next to a 25-kilowatt solar system. The Democrat caption boldly states ” the rooftop solar system is projected to cut firm’s annual […]

What is the Financial Impact of Smart Meters?

In government, and in business, often times the decision to move forward with spending and investing large sums of money is based on a cost effectiveness or return on investment analysis. If the analysis shows that an investment of $1.00 will yield $1.5 in return, the policy or action is deemed to be cost effective and therefore, a […]

Commissioner Katz Addresses Tallahassee Charter Review Committee

The Tallahassee Charter Review Committee (CRC) held its sixth meeting today at City Hall with presentations made by City Commissioner Allan Katz and Bill Roberts of the Florida Airports Council. Mr. Katz’s presentation centered around preparing Tallahassee for the next 5-10 years. It was clear in his comments that he does not believe that the current […]

Is It Time For A Tallahassee Utility Board?

The Tallahassee Charter Review Committee has been meeting over the last two months with the charge of reviewing possible changes to the Tallahassee City Charter. Among the issues that have been discussed is a separate regulatory board for the utility functions of the city. After five months of research, including dozens of interviews with city employees and Tallahassee […]

Tallahassee Charter Review Committee Begins Staking Out Positions

Like a bear cub trying to determine what to do with the porcupine he has cornered, the Tallahassee Charter Review Committee continued to tiptoe around the major issues until the final 45 minutes of their 5th meeting today when the positions of the committee members were revealed. The issue that garnished the most attention was the role of the […]

Will Smart Meters Be Cost-Effective?…You Will Decide!

Smart meters are the latest rage and Tallahassee is on the cutting edge. Our electric utility began investigating smart meters before 2005 and received the go ahead to spend approximately $40 million from the City Commission in late 2007. This puts us ahead of the Texas utility Oncor and Southern California Edision  who are spending $690 million and $1.3 […]

An Interview with City Commissioner Mark Mustian

Tallahassee Reports sat down with City Commissioner Mark Mustian to get his view on a number of issues. What do you think are the most pressing issues facing the City of Tallahassee? First is what to do with the electric utility. Should we keep it, sell the complete utility, or just the generation? I think […]

Is City Parking Program Another Green Program?

Tallahassee Reports continues to get a number of emails from those affected by the new City of Tallahassee parking program. Most of these emails focus on the fairness issue and the money involved. Click here to see an application for the City Employee Parking program. A review by Tallahassee Reports indicates that one reason the parking […]

Green Era Priorities Trump Child Safety Programs

In the 2009 budget, the Tallahassee City Commission cut $50,000 from the elementary school crossing guard program and cut another $30,000 by eliminating the DARE program. However, in November of 2008  the City of Tallahassee found $89,000 to donate to the Leon County School system for the “Schools on Solar Program.” Why?…In a letter, responding  to the […]