Pinellas County commissioners have agreed to continue talks with the Pinellas Utilities Department. The utility that serves Pinellas residents is asking for a 13% increase to replace some of its systems and because it says it is paying more to survive these days.

At a recent meeting, commissioner Nancy Bostock asked the utility if it could somehow look into cutting its administrative costs and report on the finding at the next meeting.

Residents are asked to attend that next meeting if they are against the rate increase. The rates include: base, fuel, nuclear, environmental and energy conservation. Grant said each rate is decided through a separate process that determines the final cost per kilowatt hour of electrical use.

Base rate

Progress Energy Florida informed the Public Service Commission of its intent to request an increase in the base rate in February and filed the necessary paperwork in March, Grant said.

The base rate, which, depending on fuel costs, amounts to about 1/3 of customers’ bills. It pays the cost to produce and deliver electricity which includes operations of energy plants, power lines, maintenance, improvements and other needs such as hardening facilities for hurricanes.

The increase is needed not only to keep up with the rising cost of plant operations and maintenance, it also would allow Progress Energy Florida to recoup the costs of improvements to the Bartow power plant located on Weedon Island in St. Petersburg. The two-year, $800 million project, which was completed this year, changed the 50-year-old facility's primary fuel source from fuel oil to more efficient, cleaner burning natural gas.

Fuel costs

Fuel costs make up the largest portion of the electricity bill, Grant said, and Progress Energy uses a variety of fuel sources to generate the power needed to serve more than 1.6 million customers in 35 counties.

Nuclear costs

Unlike non-nuclear powered plants, which utilities recoup costs on after they’re complete, a 2005 law allows for customers to be billed pre-construction for nuclear plants.

Grant said the law was meant to encourage utilities to build nuclear plants which are more efficient and less expensive than using other fuels.

Progress Energy began charging its customers in 2009 in anticipation of building two new nuclear plants in Levy County. Due to the economy, the utility requested permission from the PSC in March to reduce the nuclear charge, as well as the fuel charge, Grant said.

Taking control of electric bills

Beyond the ability to testify at a public hearing or send in a written statement, the public has very little control over the rates that make up their electricity bill. However, that doesn’t mean they can’t make change to lower their electrical use and their bills.

Grant said the public can do a lot to make a difference in their electrical bill, and Progress Energy has a number of programs to help, including free energy checks.

Your Pinellas home’s true worth: Who can tell these days?

One of the biggest mysteries in Pinellas County Real Estate these days is: How much is that house worth?

Appraisers, real-estate agents, buyers and sellers across Pinellas County are in a quandary about whether to include bargain-basement sales in the price mix when determining the value of a nearby, comparable homes.

It has really caused havoc in the Pinellas County Real Estate market right now. Hopefully it will turn around as we go through inventory of foreclosures and other distress sales. But I want to emphasize that it could take some time. Pinellas County is at an all time high when it comes to foreclosures and distressed sales in the real estate market.

The confusion over local home values in a changing market is compounded when it takes weeks – or even months – for actual sale prices to reach government and commercial Web sites.  Going to www.daniellekelley.com you can go to the sellers section and click on FREE neighborhood reports and submit your information, you will then recieve monthy updates of Real Estate Sold homes in your neighborhood.

If you’re trying to track trends in a specific neighborhood, at www.daniellekelley.com you can find out what homes sold for in any Pinellas County area. The service is free. Current sales information on Pinellas County Real Estate also can affect homeowners who are considering whether to sell or refinance their property as well.

Don't miss the boat - Now is the best time to buy Pinellas County Real Estate.

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Here you can find some of the latest lists info and Pinellas County Real Estate for sale.  Feel free to search all Pinellas Real Estate here at http://daniellekelley.remax.net

Waste Pro USA has acquired St. Pete Recycling Solutions, and expects to expand services in Pinellas County, reports BizJournals. 

Waste Pro’s Bradenton facility currently collects the waste of St. Pete Recycling’s accounts in the St. Petersburg vicinity. The acquisition looks to take advantage of major growth that is expected throughout Pinellas. Regulations requiring recycling in Pinellas are expected to drop in 2010.

St. Pete Recycling’s founder, Greg Foster, will be Waste Pro’s development manager for Pinellas.

Waste Pro is based in Longwood, Florida. They operate throughout Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina.

TREASURE ISLAND — The city's "sewer war" with St. Petersburg, temporarily resolved in 2001 and again in 2004, will now be fought in circuit court.

At issue is nearly $500,000 sitting in an escrow account that Treasure Island is refusing to pay for treatment of sewage pumped to St. Petersburg's Northwest Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The money, accumulating in the escrow account at an average of $25,000 a month, represents a 25 percent surcharge St. Petersburg began levying on Treasure Island customers in January 2008.

That was when a 25-year-old agreement between the two cities expired.

"It's a pretty big dispute. We have been collecting the surcharge and holding it under protest," said Treasure Island City Attorney Maura Kiefer on Thursday.

This is not the first time the two cities have fought over wastewater treatment rates.

In 1998, St. Petersburg tried to hike its fees 65 percent. Treasure Island refused to pay the increase.

That fight was resolved in 2001 when the cities agreed to a reduced rate schedule. Further disputes led to a revision of the agreement between the two cities in 2004.

When the two cities could not agree on a new contract last year, Treasure Island refused to pay a 25 percent surcharge Kiefer calls "just a money-maker" for St. Petersburg.

The two cities tried to resolve the dispute through nonbinding mediation, but were unsuccessful.

Kiefer says both cities "have agreed that a court declaration regarding the surcharge issue is necessary."

St. Petersburg officials declined to comment.

St. Petersburg began treating Treasure Island's wastewater in 1978 after the federal Environmental Protection Agency, acting under the Federal Clean Water Act, forced the closing of smaller municipal wastewater treatment plants, including plants on Treasure Island and St. Pete Beach.

The EPA designated St. Petersburg's Northwest Plant as a regional plant and funded millions of dollars in upgrades to expand its capacity.

Because St. Pete Beach has a different agreement with St. Petersburg that runs in "perpetuity," according to Public Services Director Steve Hallock, the city pays a wholesale rate that does not include the 25 percent surcharge.

Kiefer argues that even though Treasure Island's agreement with St. Petersburg has expired, the city should not face a surcharge, either.

A state law that allows such a surcharge does not apply, she says, because the Northwest plant lies within the St. Petersburg city limits.

Her larger argument, however, is that when the EPA granted millions to upgrade the Northwest plant, the Clean Water Act said that grant fund recipients — Treasure Island and St. Petersburg — should pay only their "proportionate share" of the costs to operate the plant.

Keifer warns that allowing the 25 percent surcharge violates the grant requirements and would cause "irreparable harm" to Treasure Island and St. Petersburg because the cities would then be required to pay back the money originally granted by the EPA.

According to the lawsuit Kiefer filed last week, Treasure Island wants the court to issue a summary judgment declaring the surcharge illegal and a permanent injunction against St. Petersburg preventing further efforts to collect the surcharge.

If Treasure Island is successful in its court action, the City Commission will have to decide what to do with the surcharge paid by residential and commercial sewer customers since January 2008.

Pinellas County Pending Home Sales Rise Again

Pending home sales show a sustained uptrend, rising for four consecutive months with very favorable housing affordability and a first-time buyer tax credit boosting activity, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in May, increased 0.1 percent to 90.7 from an upwardly revised reading of 90.6 in April, and is 6.7 percent higher than May 2008 when it was 85.0. The last time there were four consecutive monthly gains was in October 2004.

Closed existing-home sales have improved but are coming in lower than expected because some contracts are delayed or falling through from the application of new appraisal rules for many transactions,Rises in contract activity show buyers are becoming more active even as they face much more stringent loan underwriting standards. Speedy clarification of the appraisal rules could smooth a housing market recovery and support the overall economy.