Franchise Agreements Approved for Progress Energy and Peoples Gas System

At Tuesday night's meeting, the Gulfport City Council approved the franchise agreements with Peoples Gas System and Progress Energy for their right-of-way to use the city.

“All these franchise agreements are basically a regressive tax on the citizens,” said Council Member Jennifer Salmon, noting that the utility companies pass the franchise fees back to the customer regardless of the value of their property.

She voted no when it came to a vote to grant Progress Energy its franchise, indicating that more environmentally-friendly options should be discussed for the city.

“It's so frustrating to me that all we can do is negotiate a franchise agreement, which all it does is essentially create another regressive tax on our city,” she stated, referring to nuclear power included in providing the service. “I feel like we're between a rock and a hard place trying to do the right thing environmentally for our energy use.”

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During a June 7 council meeting, Salmon questioned why the council did not have an opportunity to discuss the franchise agreement at a workshop.