The Brownsville Public Utility Mafia and Tenaska
By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon
I like television and I love movies. I have half a dozen streaming services along with regular cable. I like watching shows that I've watched before. Among my favorites are The West Wing, NYPD Blue, and Sons of Anarchy. One of my favorite movies is The Godfather. That led me to rediscover the HBO show The Sopranos. In the show, Tony Soprano is the boss of a northern New Jersey organized crime family. His "day job" is being an administrator of a waste management company. He controls unions, construction, and garbage collecting in his territory. He has a monopoly over the region.
It is a monopoly very similar to the one our local utility company has. In addition to the stranglehold the Brownsville Public Utility Board has over us, they also have a unique distinction — they are the only utility company in the Rio Grande Valley to be owned by the city. In addition to electrical power, it is also important to remember the Brownsville PUB provides residents with water service and garbage collection.
Brownsville has some of the highest utility rates in South Texas. One of the reasons why our utility rates are so high is because PUB entered into an agreement with a company called Tenaska to build an 800-megawatt natural gas powered electric generating station.
While working on one of our editorial cartoons, a friend of the Beacon walked in and had a few questions about the PUB and Tenaska.
What is Tenaska?
Tenaska is one of the country's largest private energy companies based out of Omaha, Nebraska.
What is the agreement between Tenaska and PUB?
This is how the partnership is supposed to shake out. Brownsville was going to supply the water to the Tenaska Brownsville Generating Station. Brownsville was also going to supply the natural gas connections to the plant. In return, Brownsville would get part ownership of the power plant, receiving about 25% of the power generated by the station. Approximately two-dozen permanent jobs would be created as a result of the power plant being built. According to numbers released by the city, Brownsville is supposed to pay 325 million of the 500 million dollar cost of the power plant.
So, Brownsville is supposed to pay 65% of the cost of the plant, connect the natural gas, and provide water, and they're only getting 25% of the power generated?
That's right.
That doesn't sound like a good deal to me. Where is it going to be built? When it is going to be built?
The plant is supposed to be built on a 270-acre plot of land at the intersection of FM 511 and Old Alice Road. According to Tenaska, construction could have started as early as 2014 and could have been completed as early as 2016. The construction project was also supposed to create approximately 700 jobs.
But wait. It's 2019. That means the plant has already been built, right?
No. To date, the power plant has not been built. Even though the Brownsville PUB raised its rates beginning in 2012, and as of today have collected over 100 million dollars because of those raised rates, we have not seen the power plant completed.
So, you're telling me that even though the PUB has been collecting the inflated rates for seven years, we don't have anything to show for it?
Exactly.
Well, there has to be some record of where the money went, right? There has to be someone we can call and ask about this.
Unfortunately, there isn't. Local media has put this story on the back burner and local politicians who supported this power plant are either no longer in office or aren't saying a whole lot on the subject. God only knows how many kickbacks have gone to elected officials. It is also my understanding some of the executives at the PUB have gotten some hefty pay raises over the years.
Do you think the PUB will ever give its customers rebates for those inflated rates they've been charging people over the last few years?
I doubt it. I'm sure we'll never see that money again. It's just like the people always complaining about their tax dollars going to "illegal" immigrants. If every "illegal" immigrant disappeared from the United States, the government isn't going to give people the tax money they've spent — the government will find somewhere to spend that tax money just like PUB has found somewhere to put those millions of dollars.
Man, Tony Soprano would be proud of what the PUB has done.
Yup.
I like television and I love movies. I have half a dozen streaming services along with regular cable. I like watching shows that I've watched before. Among my favorites are The West Wing, NYPD Blue, and Sons of Anarchy. One of my favorite movies is The Godfather. That led me to rediscover the HBO show The Sopranos. In the show, Tony Soprano is the boss of a northern New Jersey organized crime family. His "day job" is being an administrator of a waste management company. He controls unions, construction, and garbage collecting in his territory. He has a monopoly over the region.
It is a monopoly very similar to the one our local utility company has. In addition to the stranglehold the Brownsville Public Utility Board has over us, they also have a unique distinction — they are the only utility company in the Rio Grande Valley to be owned by the city. In addition to electrical power, it is also important to remember the Brownsville PUB provides residents with water service and garbage collection.
Brownsville has some of the highest utility rates in South Texas. One of the reasons why our utility rates are so high is because PUB entered into an agreement with a company called Tenaska to build an 800-megawatt natural gas powered electric generating station.
While working on one of our editorial cartoons, a friend of the Beacon walked in and had a few questions about the PUB and Tenaska.
What is Tenaska?
Tenaska is one of the country's largest private energy companies based out of Omaha, Nebraska.
 |
| The Tenaska Empire |
What is the agreement between Tenaska and PUB?
This is how the partnership is supposed to shake out. Brownsville was going to supply the water to the Tenaska Brownsville Generating Station. Brownsville was also going to supply the natural gas connections to the plant. In return, Brownsville would get part ownership of the power plant, receiving about 25% of the power generated by the station. Approximately two-dozen permanent jobs would be created as a result of the power plant being built. According to numbers released by the city, Brownsville is supposed to pay 325 million of the 500 million dollar cost of the power plant.
So, Brownsville is supposed to pay 65% of the cost of the plant, connect the natural gas, and provide water, and they're only getting 25% of the power generated?
That's right.
That doesn't sound like a good deal to me. Where is it going to be built? When it is going to be built?
The plant is supposed to be built on a 270-acre plot of land at the intersection of FM 511 and Old Alice Road. According to Tenaska, construction could have started as early as 2014 and could have been completed as early as 2016. The construction project was also supposed to create approximately 700 jobs.
But wait. It's 2019. That means the plant has already been built, right?
No. To date, the power plant has not been built. Even though the Brownsville PUB raised its rates beginning in 2012, and as of today have collected over 100 million dollars because of those raised rates, we have not seen the power plant completed.
So, you're telling me that even though the PUB has been collecting the inflated rates for seven years, we don't have anything to show for it?
Exactly.
Well, there has to be some record of where the money went, right? There has to be someone we can call and ask about this.
Unfortunately, there isn't. Local media has put this story on the back burner and local politicians who supported this power plant are either no longer in office or aren't saying a whole lot on the subject. God only knows how many kickbacks have gone to elected officials. It is also my understanding some of the executives at the PUB have gotten some hefty pay raises over the years.
Do you think the PUB will ever give its customers rebates for those inflated rates they've been charging people over the last few years?
I doubt it. I'm sure we'll never see that money again. It's just like the people always complaining about their tax dollars going to "illegal" immigrants. If every "illegal" immigrant disappeared from the United States, the government isn't going to give people the tax money they've spent — the government will find somewhere to spend that tax money just like PUB has found somewhere to put those millions of dollars.
Man, Tony Soprano would be proud of what the PUB has done.
Yup.
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