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Careful What You Wish For In Pursuit Of Aloha Utilities

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 12, 2007

It's understandable that state Sen. Mike Fasano and other officials want Pasco County government to purchase west-Pasco based Aloha Utilities. Customer service and water quality issues have plagued the utility for years, and dozens of orders by state regulators have failed to solve them, leaving customers frustrated and angry.

Indeed, the county's purchase of Aloha would bring local accountability, something that has been lacking, and Pasco Utilities has a very good track record of providing quality service and water. It would be a good fit.

But that doesn't mean it should happen, for several reasons.

Foremost, the county and taxpayers would be purchasing a utility that has failed to get its act together. Taxpayers - both local and statewide - should never be asked to pony up money to purchase an inferior product and, at the same time, reward its owner with millions of dollars. That's what would happen if the county purchased Aloha Utilities at this point.

Money and willingness on the part of Aloha are other issues. The utility hasn't even agreed to sell, and it's hard to believe it would be satisfied with only the $6 million that Fasano and other legislators plan to seek in the next legislative session.

How much should taxpayers be expected to pay? Considering Aloha's record, $6 million is excessive. And county officials should not expose taxpayers to further debt to purchase it. They have more pressing issues, such as addressing transportation deficiencies and solid-waste disposal issues.

Because Aloha has a long history of playing hardball with Fasano and the state Public Service Commission, which regulates it, it's a safe bet it will seek to extract every cent from taxpayers that it can. The utility's vow to fight any effort by the state to yank its franchise and turn its Seven Springs service area over to the county - still a possibility - only reinforces that taxpayers could be exposed to a bad business deal.

Fasano, the driving force behind a county purchase, and other supporters of the possible purchase have very good intentions: to finally give customers the relief that state regulators have failed to produce. But that relief should not come at the expense of all taxpayers, who would be taking on a headache that previously had been experienced by a relatively small number.

This isn't to suggest that a county purchase should never be pursued. But the best solution at this point is to reinstitute territory-deletion proceedings against Aloha, which Fasano has requested, and for county officials to try to take over local utility regulation now handled by the PSC, which state law allows.

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