News Reedy Creek Improvement District and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District

[GoofGoof]

RCID should simply stop paying WDWs electric bill and let WDW go dark.
You will see how quickly TWDC pays the electric bill to keep their park lit.

That may actually sorta be what could happen. RCID would not pay the bill and Duke would stop providing power to the district who then provides it to Disney. I am not sure how the specific utility laws in FL work, but in other states they have the concept of a provider of last resort which is usually the legacy utility in the area. If a power supplier stops serving you electricity for some reason the provider of last resort steps in and sells you power at a regulated utility rate which I can guarantee is higher than what Disney is paying RCID. So I don’t think the parks go dark, Disney would just be paying someone different for the power.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I don’t disagree. $3M to Duke is like 3 cents to me. However, the manger of their credit group and/or some lawyers would still get reamed out if they didn’t address the situation and then they were out that money. In a corporate bankruptcy they would have a clear lean on the assets of the bankrupt entity and would get in line with other creditors and get paid eventually, especially if the cash on hand was enough to pay off the creditors.

I have no idea how this situation actually works. If the municipal entity who is the party to the contract is just dissolved where do the assets of the district actually go (in this case specifically the cash that could be used to pay the bills)? It’s not just Duke, it’s every vendor that RCID owes money to for goods or services. If those parties then need to get in line with the bond holders to try to recover what they are owed it may take months and they may all get pennies on the dollar. I think that’s the fear and why they requested the collateral posting. Now if this thing goes sideways and it’s a complete goat rodeo come June they cut the power off and collect what they are owed from the LC and walk away.

Reedy isn’t going anywhere. It was a stunt for donations and that’s why it has been crickets since the cameras got bored and went elsewhere

I’d say at most there is some semantics “name change”…more likely is they let the clock “run out” and some other pols down the road officially drop it.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

With the subject of energy being discussed, are the solar farms owned/operated by WDW or RCID? Just wondering

 

[lazyboy97o]

With the subject of energy being discussed, are the solar farms owned/operated by WDW or RCID? Just wondering

They’re a joint venture between Reedy Creek Improvement District and Duke Energy.

 

[GoofGoof]

Reedy isn’t going anywhere. It was a stunt for donations and that’s why it has been crickets since the cameras got bored and went elsewhere

I’d say at most there is some semantics “name change”…more likely is they let the clock “run out” and some other pols down the road officially drop it.

I think that’s easy for us to say and is a valid opinion and a likely outcome, but for vendors and employees who need to be paid come June it’s still not so clear cut. The clock is ticking and the closer we get to June the more worried I would be if I were in their shoes. Even just a semantics name change could lead to delays in payments and disruptions to services if they don’t have everything locked down and formalized by the deadline. I also don’t think the government cares too much if that happens.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

They’re a joint venture between Reedy Creek Improvement District and Duke Energy.

Yep…Iger had to put $500,000 deposit on the account…he didn’t pass Duke’s credit check

 

[GoofGoof]

With the subject of energy being discussed, are the solar farms owned/operated by WDW or RCID? Just wondering

It’s an interesting question. Duke Energy operates the facilities and sells the output to RCID and they sell some but not all of the power to Disney. I believe the land is/was owned by RCID so I’m not sure if they are leasing the land to the project company or if it was contributed as part of the agreement to build there. Either way, this is part of the mess that needs to be sorted out if the district really is dissolved. What happens to both contracts?

Duke Energy Launches New Solar Facility at Walt Disney World Resort

A new solar facility designed in the shape of a “not-so-hidden-Mickey” is the latest step by Duke Energy to expand renewable energy in Central Florida.

news.duke-energy.com

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I think that’s easy for us to say and is a valid opinion and a likely outcome, but for vendors and employees who need to be paid come June it’s still not so clear cut. The clock is ticking and the closer we get to June the more worried I would be if I were in their shoes. Even just a semantics name change could lead to delays in payments and disruptions to services if they don’t have everything locked down and formalized by the deadline. I also don’t think the government cares too much if that happens.

I get it…but that’s why they shouldn’t have started this stunt in the first place

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It’s an interesting question. Duke Energy operates the facilities and sells the output to RCID and they sell some but not all of the power to Disney. I believe the land is/was owned by RCID so I’m not sure if they are leasing the land to the project company or if it was contributed as part of the agreement to build there. Either way, this is part of the mess that needs to be sorted out if the district really is dissolved. What happens to both contracts?

Duke Energy Launches New Solar Facility at Walt Disney World Resort

A new solar facility designed in the shape of a “not-so-hidden-Mickey” is the latest step by Duke Energy to expand renewable energy in Central Florida.

news.duke-energy.com

Have you considered that the Feds are likely financing those anyway?

Probably are. we just can’t scare the children with the truth

 

[GoofGoof]

Have you considered that the Feds are likely financing those anyway?

Probably are. we just can’t scare the children with the truth

Sure, they most likely get tax credits for those facilities, but it doesn’t change much for this discussion. The economics around one of these projects includes the benefit of the tax credits but they are still underwater if the person buying the power stops paying for it.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Sure, they most likely get tax credits for those facilities, but it doesn’t change much for this discussion. The economics around one of these projects includes the benefit of the tax credits but they are still underwater if the person buying the power stops paying for it.

Jeeez…can we not defend Duke energy here?

The “free” (corporate welfare) system won’t die on this hill…I promise

 

[GoofGoof]

Jeeez…can we not defend Duke energy here?

The “free” (corporate welfare) system won’t die on this hill…I promise

The same issue of uncertainty around payment exists for EMS and other RCID employees as well as any other vendor providing services to the district. How will they be paid in June when the district is gone? In this case Duke had the ability within their contract to require a collateral posting while some or most of the others probably don’t have that safety net. I know the employees cannot ask to be paid in advance in May.

Whether Duke is an evil company benefiting from corporate welfare is really not relevant. We have gone down this path of tribalism in this country where everyone picks a side and wrongs only “count” when they are against your side and not when they are against the other. Wrong is wrong no matter who the victim is. Even if Duke is evil for various other reasons they still have a contractual right to be paid on time.

 

[Kamikaze]

RCID should simply stop paying WDWs electric bill and let WDW go dark.
You will see how quickly TWDC pays the electric bill to keep their park lit.

How would it benefit Disney to have RCID not pay the bill?

 

[castlecake2.0]

Not bringing up how we got to this point in time, I don’t think anyone can honestly say they’re ok with the State appointing their own hand picked members to serve on the Reedy Creek board. That’s a dangerous precedent.

 

[GoofGoof]

Not bringing up how we got to this point in time, I don’t think anyone can honestly say they’re ok with the State appointing their own hand picked members to serve on the Reedy Creek board. That’s a dangerous precedent.

Yeah it would be quite unusual for a district like this. Many pages back someone posted a link to a database of all of the special districts in FL and you could filter on all of the districts where board members are appointed by the state. They were almost exclusively around non-profit medical centers or entities that received the majority of their funding from the state. In that case it makes sense for the state to maintain control. There were no examples we could find of a special district funded by taxpayers where the taxpayers didn’t then get to elect their own board of directors. Basic concept of no taxation without representation.

 

[GoofGoof]

I wish we could keep this on the topic of what will happen to RCID. I assume at some point many of the recent posts will be deleted and there’s some good information here and good discussion that will probably get lost too

 

[GoofGoof]

What is the state giving up? One side giving and the other side taking is not a compromise.

If you compare this to the last 50 years the state gives up nothing. I concede that point. The fact of the matter is that outside of a successful 1st amendment lawsuit RCID would be gone in June. Passed officially by the legislature. So under those conditions the compromise is Disney gets to keep practical control of the district it wants to keep and the state gives up its plan to eliminate the special district completely which they have a right to do. That’s the compromise. If Disney keeps control and loses next to nothing they aren’t really giving up much either.

 

[Surferboy567]

If Disney keeps control and loses next to nothing they aren’t really giving up much either.

I’m no political expert…but they are giving up full control of the district. Yes, they may still technically have control but now they have to deal with the state breathing down their necks. It’s a compromise but they are definitely losing out from their current arrangement.

 

[GoofGoof]

I’m no political expert…but they are giving up full control of the district. Yes, they may still technically have control but now they have to deal with the state breathing down their necks. It’s a compromise but they are definitely losing out from their current arrangement.

It’s not the same position they have today, no. But like I said, if they maintain control of a majority of the board seats (a big if that we don’t know until an official plan is announced) they maintain practical control. The state appointed directors would lack the ability to stop the elected directors from doing exactly what they would do today. Maybe some votes would be 4-3 instead of 7-0 but the outcome is the same. So if Disney (through RCID) wanted to add a 4th parking garage to Disney Springs or add another overpass to one of their roads or enter into a new agreements to buy solar power they would have the votes to do it. They would also have the votes to set budgets and tax rates and any other actions the board currently takes. The state appointed directors may have access to some information that was previously non-public so the worst they are is someone looking over your shoulder. A minor inconvenience unless you want to do something unethical or potentially illegal.

 

[Dranth]

I wish we could keep this on the topic of what will happen to RCID. I assume at some point many of the recent posts will be deleted and there’s some good information here and good discussion that will probably get lost too

Fair enough.