From Bob Schwartz, City Manager
→ Vacation – I will be on vacation next week. I’ll be back in the office Monday, July 29.
→ Traffic Court – – The speeding tickets for the July 18 court date included thirteen in the
35 MPH zone with an average speed of 56.08 MPH; and four in the 25 MPH zone with
an average speed of 50.25 MPH.
→ MEAG– I attended the MEAG annual meeting at Amelia Island Monday – Wednesday.
Every city was there but for two and almost 400 people were in attendance. I cast my vote
on behalf of Oxford for four members of the MEAG board of directors. It turns out we
voted for the winners: Steve Rentfrow, Crisp County; Patrick Bowie, LaGrange; Steve
Tumlin, Marietta; and Larry Vickery, Calhoun.
Here’s some information about MEAG that you may already know, but it bears repeating.
o MEAG is 38 years old. It is governed by and serves its city members.
o Membership is 48 cities and one county.
o MEAG has total assets of $7.7 billion.
o Increasing regulation of carbon emissions may pose a problem for the coal generators
that MEAG owns.
As part of the conference I took a tour of “The Energy Authority” in Jacksonville. The Energy
Authority was formed by MEAG and several other public power providers. Its primary purpose
is to buy and sell electric power. It has a trading floor about as large as two classrooms. The two
hourly traders sit at desks with 12 computer screens each. Every hour on a 24/7 basis they buy
and sell power. When we have an excess that cannot be sold to another MEAG city, it is sold here.
And during peak periods this is where we purchase power - - or rather The Energy Authority does
it on behalf of MEAG who does it on behalf of the City of Oxford. Since 1997, The Energy Authority
has improved the margins for MEAG by over $300 million. It’s an impressive operation. Mayor
Roseberry and Councilmembers Eady, Holt, and Windham were there for the entire presentation.
Councilmember Davis joined us at the end of the meeting. We will present a summary of their
report along with copies of the written report during the work session Monday evening.