FMPA Weekly
A weekly e-newsletter for FMPA members
Dec. 7, 2009
LAST WEEK
Cane Island Combustion Turbine, Generator and PDC Delivered
An 85.5-ton combustion turbine and a 271.5-ton generator – two major elements of the new Cane Island Unit 4 – were successfully delivered Dec. 2 and Dec. 4 to the Cane Island Power Park. The General Electric 7FA combustion turbine was shipped by rail from Norfolk, Va., on Nov. 30. The components will be stored on site until additional equipment arrives, before being placed onto the plant’s foundation and prepared for final assembly. The unit’s power delivery component (PDC) also arrived last week and has been placed onto the plant’s foundation. Photos of the delivery are posted on FMPA’s Member Portal. The Cane Island Unit 4 construction team is working closely with the Treasure Coast Energy Center operations team on equipment inspections, aiming to transfer lessons leaed for the improvement of the new unit. Contact: Steve Carroll
Bond Pricing
Prices were set last Wednesday for FMPA’s upcoming bond issuance. The Agency received very favorable interest rates from underwriters. The total issuance of $60.58 million will provide funds for the Stanton, Stanton II, St. Lucie and Tri-City projects. Pre-closing is planned for Dec. 9, and closing is scheduled for Dec. 10. Contact: Janet Davis
Audit and Risk Oversight Committee
FMPA’s Audit and Risk Oversight Committee met last Thursday and approved action items, including: 1) the natural gas hedging recommendation of FMPA’s ARP Business Model Working Group, and 2) hedging transactions. The short-term hedging strategy and demand credits for excluded resources will be presented for a vote at the January meeting of the ARP Executive Committee. Contact: Rich Popp
Board of Directors
FMPA’s Board of Directors met last Thursday and approved action items, including: 1) selection of bond underwriting firms, 2) the General Counsel’s performance review, 3) a bonus for the Interim General Manager as Executive on Loan, 4) a St. Lucie Project bond resolution, and 5) a lobbying contract with William Peebles. Contact: Sue Utley
ARP Executive Committee
FMPA’s All-Requirements Executive Committee met last Thursday and approved action items, including: 1) meeting dates and start times for 2010, 2) a waiver of notice period for Key West generation, 3) selection of bond underwriting firms, and 4) a lobbying contract with William Peebles. The Committee will reconsider at its January meeting payments for Lake Worth gas transportation. In 2010, ARP Executive Committee meetings will start at 9 a.m. or immediately following Board meetings. Additionally, the Executive Committee voted to move an information item to an action item conceing letters from the Fort Meade City Commission requesting an independent review of specific aspects of the Agency’s operations. The Committee approved a motion to issue a written response to Fort Meade addressing the issues the city raised and requesting a face-to-face workshop between FMPA’s leadership and the Fort Meade City Commission. Contact: Michelle Pisarri
CR3 Outage Update
A contractor began repair work last week to fix cracks in the containment building of Crystal River Unit 3. Meanwhile, the build out of Unit 3’s new turbine generator is nearing completion. A new scheduled on-line date will be determined once repair activities have been placed on the outage schedule. Contact: David Schumann
St. Lucie Refinancing
Janet Davis, Mark Larson and Ed Nunez met last Wednesday with representatives from Dunlap & Associates to discuss a refinancing strategy for the St. Lucie Project.
Meeting with JP Morgan
Mark Larson met with representatives from JP Morgan last Wednesday to discuss market conditions and FMPA’s financing needs. The representatives provided an update on the natural gas market. Of note, the firm expects long-term natural gas prices to be around $5 per MMBtu based on availability and technological advances. JP Morgan’s New York office contacted FMPA last Friday to discuss supporting a renewal of the Agency’s Pooled Loan program.
Meeting with TEA
Richard Montgomery and Tom Reedy met last week with representatives from The Energy Authority (TEA) to discuss marketing some of FMPA’s power resources.
THIS WEEK
General Manager Visits Bushnell
Nick Guarriello travels to Bushnell on Monday for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new City Hall.
Compliance Workshop
FMPA will host two sessions of a compliance workshop Monday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Tuesday from 8 a.m. to noon in the Board room. The workshop will also be webcast for those who cannot attend in person. Contact: Cara Gowan
ARP Rate Workshop
The ARP Executive Committee meets Tuesday via conference call at 2 p.m. for the monthly All-Requirements rate workshop. The workshop agenda includes: 1) an update on natural gas markets and liquidity, 2) an overview of November loads, costs and rate calculation, and 3) estimated rates for December 2009 through February 2010. Contact: Jim Atz
Compensation and Benefits Study
Representatives from the Hay Group will visit FMPA on Tuesday to begin work on human resources consulting projects for the Agency. They will meet with Fred Bryant, Nick Guarriello, Mark Larson, Mark McCain and Tom Reedy to discuss the first project, a compensation and benefits study. This study and a review of FMPA’s employee manual are action items in the Agency’s Strategic Plan. Contact: Sharon Adams
Solar Photovoltaic Demonstration Center
Representatives from FMPA, Advanced Roofing, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association and Keys Energy Services meet Wednesday to kick off a solar photovoltaic demonstration project. The demonstration center and an educational kiosk will be housed at the Eco-Discovery Center in Key West. Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin the week of Dec. 14. Contact: Sharon Smeenk
KPMG Visit
Representatives from KPMG will visit FMPA on Wednesday to present their report and recommendations to the IT Steering Committee and FMPA managers. Contact: Carter Manucy
Joint Purchase Project
Joint Purchase Project participants meet Thursday at 10 a.m. to discuss possible rebids or extensions of agreements for concrete poles, transformer repair or disposal and transformer painting and inspection services. Contact: Sharon Samuels
NESC Summary of Change Proposals Workshop Rescheduled
FMPA’s NESC Summary of Change Proposals workshop has been cancelled for this Thursday. Instead, a webinar workshop will be held Jan. 6 and Jan. 7. More details will be available on FMPA’s