![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Lakeland-Electric-By-Mirror-Lake-39513-660x2000-0.jpg?resize=660%2C371&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nLakeland commissioners have perpetrated the Great Lakeland Electric Rebate Rip-off. They denied over 1,000 rebates, totaling over $344K. The victims include a blind lady and a grandma whose grandson was in the NICU for five weeks! They believe they are untouchable, which brings out the arrogance, audacity, and hypocrisy that absolute power creates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mike Musick: \u201cI would like to change the name from a rebate because, I agree with you, if I\u2019m going to apply for something and it\u2019s a rebate, I\u2019d expect that rebate to be fully funded.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was, and still is, titled the Lakeland Electric Energy Efficiency Rebate Program. Sara McCarley: \u201d Because I\u2019m like the mayor, if I apply for a rebate, by God, I\u2019d better get my money.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mayor Mutz outright lies, but he is smiling when he says them. The others are either heartless or oblivious to the reality of the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People submitted their rebates, were falsely told the program was \u201cout of money,\u201d and then told to come back in eight months, when the next FY funding would be added. This wasn\u2019t a problem, because the submission timeframe was one year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lakeland Electric AGM Matthew Bush then changed the rules, requiring submission within 90 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He stated, \u201cIt was a well thought out process, and wasn\u2019t intended to cut anybody out.\u201d But that\u2019s exactly what he did, even boasting about it. They never thought anybody would uncover their secret March 2nd email, \u201cnow and in October.\u201d Absolute proof it was a scheme to defraud people. And, contrary to Matthew Bush\u2019s false statement to the commissioners, the program ended the FY with a surplus of over $13K, not a deficit of $13,247!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lakeland Electric GM Mike Beckham took time off from running Lakeland Electric to send me an email. He told me about their big meeting, where they made many improvements, such as the \u201ctrough\u201d instead of the \u201cbucket.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But no, they\u2019re not doing anything for the hundreds of victims, mocking the situation they created. However, but for his email, I wouldn\u2019t have known about their meeting, where their lies and hypocrisy were exposed. No legitimate or respectable utility would operate this way, and as expected, I found none, despite extensive research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Matthew Bush siphoned almost $49K from the program, illegally in my opinion. His \u201cPaperless Billing Incentive Program\u201d gave a kickback to people who switched to electronic billing. This gave them instantaneous savings on postage. Lakeland Electric is dangerously close to their debt limit. Mayor Mutz says it is indefensible, then defends it through his apathy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Florida Public Services Commission states they\u2019re powerless. Ashley Moody, Florida\u2019s Attorney General, says, \u201cWork with City Manager Shawn Sherrouse.\u201d Shawn Sherrouse defers to the commissioners. The commissioners have apparently ordered the City Attorney Palmer Davis not to pay any rebate to any of these victims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The city attorney said that he\u2019s got a $200K budget allocated to fight my $200 small claims case, stating I could \u201cset a precedent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I can, since I\u2019m correct, \u201cTerms and conditions are subject to change without notice\u201d is not a license to swindle, as he states. I have both case law, Stover v. Experian, Rodman v. Safeway Inc., and an American Bar Association memo about this, which of course the city attorney knows about too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lakeland Electric GM Mike Beckham said that if people find out, \u201cthat could grow into a real firestorm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately, there is still \u201cthe power of the press.\u201d When people know the truth, politicians must act honorably, even if it\u2019s just an act.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Lakeland Resident Kevin Kayden Lord Acton, back in 1887, stated, \u201cAbsolute power corrupts absolutely.\u201d It was true then, and all these years later, it is still true here in… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2,"attached_media":[{"id":48601,"url":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Lakeland-Electric-By-Mirror-Lake-39513-660x2000-0.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[9373],"class_list":["post-48600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-letters","tag-letter-to-the-editor-the-great-lakeland-electric-rebate-ripoff"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48600"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48602,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48600\/revisions\/48602"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}