FMPA Weekly
A weekly e-newsletter for FMPA members
March 1, 2010
LAST WEEK
APPA Legislative Rally
Nick Guarriello, Fred Bryant, Mark McCain and nearly 40 representatives from 16 municipal electric utilities attended the APPA Legislative Rally in Washington, D.C., last Monday through Wednesday. While in the nation’s capitol, they attended 16 meetings over two days 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. Next year’s rally will be held Feb. 28 through March 3, 2011.
THIS WEEK
Member Services Advisory Committee
FMPA’s Member Services Advisory Committee meets Tuesday from 10 a.m. to noon in the Board room. Participants will discuss the future of the lineman’s safety training program and the development of a best practices program for electric utility operations, which is an action item in FMPA’s Strategic Plan. Contact: Mike Siefert
ARP Business Model Working Group
The ARP Business Model Working Group meets Thursday at 9 a.m. in FMPA’s Board room to continue its discussion of FMPA’s rate-setting process and demand-side load management. Contact: Nick Guarriello
Colectric Partners Management Council
Steve Carroll visits Atlanta on Friday to represent FMPA at a meeting of Colectric Partners’ Management Council. The Council will discuss Colectric’s 2010 performance goals, business plan development and potential initiatives.
Member Relations Survey
Have you responded to FMPA’s 2010 Member Relations Survey? So far 19 people have responded for a 59% response rate. The survey is a strategic action item to achieve FMPA’s goal of “fostering a positive communication culture. The brief online survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete; why not participate today? Contact: Diane Nelson
New Agenda Package Option
FMPA members can now opt out of receiving meeting agenda packages on CD. FMPA oveights CD-ROMs with the agenda package files to members for all Board and ARP Executive Committee meetings, but the packages are also posted concurrently on the Member Portal. Since many of our members download the packages from the Portal on a regular basis, and sending fewer CDs would reduce shipping costs, we wanted to give members the opportunity to cancel their subscription to the CDs. If you wish to “opt out of the CD distribution for future agenda packages, please contact Sue Utley or Michelle Pisarri. If you wish to continue receiving CDs, then no action is necessary at this time.
Member Portal Spotlight: Meeting Presentations
Did you know that presentations from recent meetings are posted on the Portal? Presentations from FMPA’s business meetings on Feb. 17 and Feb. 18 are now available for download.
All-Requirements Project Load
The All-Requirements Project’s peak for the month of February was 1,062 megawatts, which occurred Feb. 17 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 63%. The month’s peak was 83% of the budgeted peak, and energy was 108% of budget. A graph showing the All-Requirements Project hourly load for the month of February is available on the Member Portal. Contact: Jim Atz
Service Anniversaries
Congratulations to Cara Gowan, who celebrates one year with FMPA on Tuesday, March 2.
Congratulations to Denise Fuentes, who celebrates four years with FMPA on Saturday, March 6.
COMING UP
Upcoming Regulatory Deadlines
FMPA’s Legal Services Division would like to remind FMPA members of several upcoming regulatory filing deadlines: 1) Storm Hardening Reports are due to be filed by March 1; FMEA’s Barry Moline is assisting FMEA members with this report; 2) Ten-Year Site Plans must be filed at the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) by April; utilities that are required to file these plans include FMPA, Gainesville Regional Utilities, JEA, Lakeland Electric, Orlando Utilities Commission and Tallahassee; 3) All municipal electric utilities must file a Net Metering Report with the PSC by April 1 that details customer participation in their net metering programs; Ann Beckwith is coordinating efforts with the All-Requirements members; and 4) Each municipal electric utility is required to file a report with the PSC by April 1 that identifies the utility’s “standards for promotion, encouragement, and expansion of the use of renewable energy resources and energy conservation and efficiency measures; members may contact Dan O’Hagan or Sharon Smeenk for assistance.
Climate Change Workshop
FMPA will host a Climate Change workshop March 10 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Board room. The workshop will help participants understand the issues surrounding proposed climate change legislation, as well as the operational and financial impacts for utilities. Participants can ea four Professional Development Hours (PDH) with the Florida Board of Professional Engineers for completion of the course. FMPA will e-mail a link to a Webcast and conference call numbers to all registrants, for those who want to attend but cannot be there in person. http://fmpa.com/index.php/component/registrationpro/?view=event&did=16>Registration; is $250 for FMPA members. Contact: Mike Siefert
Solar Dedication Reminder
All-Requirements members planning to attend the Solar Demonstration Project Dedication on March 26 are reminded to RSVP to Diane Nelson no later than March 12.
APPA National Conference
Mark your calendars; APPA’s National Conference is coming to Orlando on June 19 through June 23. The conference is offering many sessions specifically targeted toward public power utility boards and managers to help them understand the key issues utilities face today. One of FMPA’s Strategic Plan action items is to provide annual training for the board that focuses on a review of fiduciary and policy responsibilities, as well as board effectiveness and self assessment. One of the pre-conference sessions, titled “Fostering effective Board/Management relations, provides this type of training. That session is scheduled for June 19. The national conference is an opportunity to lea about issues that matter to your utility while networking with more than 1,500 other senior managers and goveing board members, so FMPA’s members are highly encouraged to participate.