Fort Pierce Utilities seeks direction as St. Lucie County pursues own plants; bulk contract due 2028

FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Fort Pierce Utilities Authority staff told the FPUA board Feb. 4 that the authority’s bulk water and wastewater contract with St. Lucie County, the utility’s largest single customer, expires in 2028 and that the county is pursuing its own treatment plants and seeking lower wholesale rates.

The update presented by FPUA Director Carlos Cisneros, water/wastewater Director Beau Hutchinson and rate consultant Murray Hamilton reviewed the contract’s history, described the “no loss/no gain” methodology used to set bulk rates in the 2019 amendment, and outlined staff’s current negotiating position as county officials consider building treatment facilities of their own.

The contract, originally executed in February 2004 and amended in 2019, established boundaries for water and wastewater service and set a negotiated wholesale rate designed to cover FPUA’s system costs allocable to the county, Hamilton said. Under the current arrangement St. Lucie County purchased about 390 million gallons of potable water in fiscal 2024, producing roughly $3 million in annual revenue, Hamilton said. If the county departs, that revenue would reduce FPUA’s total receipts by roughly $3.2 million per year, or about 6 percent of current revenues, he said.

Why this matters: FPUA staff told the board the lost revenue could constrain borrowing for major infrastructure or expansion projects, though the authority expects a bond…