FMPA Weekly
A weekly e-newsletter for FMPA members
March 2, 2009
LAST WEEK
APPA Legislative Rally
Nick Guarriello, Fred Bryant, Mark McCain and 37 representatives of Florida’s municipal electric utilities attended the APPA Legislative Rally in Washington, D.C., last Monday through Wednesday. While in the nation’s capitol, they met with members of Congress to discuss energy and environmental issues. For more information on issues that were discussed, visit the Legislative Issues section of the Members Portal.
Debt Financing
The FMPA Treasury Department recently began work on a new bond issue for the All-Requirements Project. Contact: Janet Davis
Utility Credit Risk Webinar
Janet Davis, Kristi Knight, Mark Larson, Rich Popp and Steve Ruppel attended a Utility Credit Risk webinar hosted by Moody’s Investment Services last Wednesday. The webinar discussed the status of utility credit in the public and private sectors. Moody’s described the electric utility sector as stable; however, they noted a number of areas to watch including: 1) liquidity, 2) cost recovery through rates, and 3) energy demand in light of the economy. A report on the webinar was issued by Moody’s, and the PowerPoint presentation is on the Members Portal. If you would like a copy of the report, contact Mark Larson.
FMPA Member Portal
Two new sections were added to FMPA’s Member Portal. The Meeting Presentations section archives PowerPoint presentations from meetings. The Meeting Approvals section provides a quick summary of approved actions items from meeting.
Energy Efficiency Resource Central
The APPA Energy Efficiency Resource Central column for March has been posted on the Energy” rel=”nofollow”>http://www.appanet.org/files/Word/EERCnetcolumnMarch2009.doc>Energy Efficiency Resource Central. APPA has made energy efficiency one of its top priorities and has developed many new resources in this area. To get the word out, FMPA and the Florida Municipal Electric Association have partnered with APPA to share information about these resources.
THIS WEEK
NERC Audit
Two auditors and an observer from the Florida Reliability Coordinating Council visit FMPA on Monday and Tuesday to conduct the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) audit. The audit will assess FMPA’s compliance with federal standards for electric reliability. Contact: Frank Gaffney or Doug Smith
Financial Visits
Janet Davis, Mark Larson and Ed Nunez meet with representatives from Wells Fargo and Wachovia on Monday to discuss the status of bonds and lines of credit. Representatives from Barclays, JPMorgan and Fitch Ratings visit FMPA on Tuesday. Barclays will discuss market updates. JPMorgan will discuss the nuclear power industry and its ability to finance nuclear power projects. Fitch will follow-up on a previous visit last fall to discuss the status of FMPA liquidity, rates and members. Contact: Mark Larson
Member Visits
Bud Boudreaux travels to Orlando Utilities Commission and Winter Park on Tuesday. He will also visit Homestead on March 11 and Keys Energy Services on March 12 as part of his responsibilities to enhance communication and build relationships between FMPA and its members. Bud’s monthly visitation reports are posted on the Members Portal.
ARP 2009 Load Forecast Workshop
FMPA will hold a conference call workshop to discuss the All-Requirements Project’s 2009 load forecast on Wednesday at 10 a.m. Participants will discuss: 1) current economic factors and the impacts on electric utilities, 2) All-Requirements energy supply trends, 3) an overview of the load forecasting methodology, and 4) 2009 load forecast results. Contact: Chris Gowder
Cane Island Unit 4
The Cane Island Unit 4 team meets with General Electric on Thursday in Greenville, S.C.. for a controls finalization meeting.
ARP Rate Workshop
ARP Executive Committee members meet by conference call Friday at 2 p.m. for the All-Requirements Project’s monthly rate workshop. Participants will hear updates on natural gas markets and liquidity, and the group will discuss loads, costs and rate calculations for February. Staff will also present estimated rate ranges for March through May. Contact: Jim Atz
All-Requirements Project Load
FMPA Weekly is introducing a new feature, a weekly update on the All-Requirements Project’s hourly loads for the current month-to-date. Billing demand is the maximum amount of electricity members require from the system in an hour each month. The All-Requirements’ peak for the month of February was 1,419 megawatts, which occurred Feb. 5 between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. Load factor is a measurement that compares the ratio of actual energy (MWh) used during a particular time period versus what would have been consumed if demand was at peak for the entire period. A higher load factor indicates more effective system utilization. The load factor for the All-Requirements Project for the month of February was 49.95%. The month’s peak was 118% of the budgeted peak, and energy was about 96% of budget. A graph showing the All-Requirements Project hourly load for the month of February is available on the Member Portal, and will be updated weekly. Contact: Jim Atz
Service Anniversaries
Congratulations to Denise Fuentes, who celebrates three years with FMPA on Friday, March 6.
Congratulations to Sue Utley, who celebrate five years with FMPA on Sunday, March 8.
COMING UP
Net Metering Reporting Requirement
Florida municipal electric utilities are required to adopt a net metering policy and standard interconnection agreement by July 1. Despite confusion regarding the initial April 1 reporting date, FMPA members are encouraged, nevertheless, to report the required information to the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) by April 1. FMPA will collect forms from all All-Requirements members and will submit the reports to the PSC on their behalf. Please send completed forms to Ann Beckwith no later than March 23. Contact: Ann Beckwith or Dan O’Hagan.
IN THE INDUSTRY
Obama Administration Releases Budget Outline
President Barack Obama in a speech last week to the nation called on Congress to pass a climate change bill with a cap-and-trade approach to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. And at the end of last week, the President released a budget outline that showed the administration is projecting to collect revenues of $79 billion in 2012 and $646 billion from 2012 through 2019 from the 100% auction of carbon emission allowances. The administration proposes to use most of the revenue to finance an extension of the middle-class tax credit in the economic stimulus bill. The remainder of the auction revenue will subsidize research and development of alteative energy resources. Additional details in a more formal budget is expected to be released in April. The budget summary can be downloaded from the CEEP” rel=”nofollow”>http://cleanefficientenergy.org/>CEEP Web site.
FMPA Weekly is published by FMPA for employees and goveing boards of FMPA member utilities. Questions or comments about this newsletter may be directed to Diane Nelson or Beth Pangbo in FMPA’s Public Relations Department.
Want more background on the names and terms used in this newsletter? Check out FMPA’s new Glossary, which features some of the most frequently mentioned committees, companies, places and terms, or get in touch with the contact listed at the end of each story to lea more about that topic. (Click here for the Staff Directory).
Have a question, comment or story idea for the newsletter? FMPA welcomes your feedback at any time. Contact Diane Nelson.