FMPA Weekly
A weekly e-newsletter for FMPA members
March 8, 2010
LAST WEEK
Member Services Advisory Committee
FMPA’s Member Services Advisory Committee met last Tuesday. A motion to modify funding for the lineman’s safety training program died for lack of a second. The Committee also discussed the development of a best practices program for electric utility operations, which is an action item in FMPA’s Strategic Plan. Members reviewed a list of potential topics and provided feedback. Next steps will be to refine the topics list and identify priorities. FMPA will take a small step approach, taking on a few business topics at a time. R.W. Beck will assist FMPA in developing these papers. Contact: Mike Siefert
ARP Business Model Working Group
The ARP Business Model Working Group met last Thursday and continued its discussion of FMPA’s rate-setting process and demand-side load management. The Working Group will next meet on April 1 at 9:30 a.m. to continue discussion of these topics. Contact: Nick Guarriello
ARP Executive Committee
The ARP Executive Committee met last Thursday and approved action items including: 1) a regulatory agreement with Seminole Electric Cooperative that will provide an annual payment to All-Requirements members for 15 years, and 2) a motion for staff to work with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) enforcement staff on a compromise waiving FMPA’s option to request a reimbursement in exchange for a commitment from FERC to close the case.
Crystal River Unit 3
Municipal joint owners of the Crystal River Unit 3 nuclear plant met at FMPA last Thursday. Janet Davis presented an update on decommissioning, including reviewing cases, discussing future funding obligations and presenting each city with an update on the status of their decommissioning funds. Participants were also provided with an update on the unit’s ongoing outage. Contact: Janet Davis or Rich Popp
FMPA Selects New Collocation Facility
FMPA selected DataSite Orlando to be the Agency’s new collocation facility for housing its information technology structure. FMPA is in the process of migrating systems to the new facility, and the transition is expected to be complete in about a month. DataSite Orlando is an SAS 70 Type II-designated facility, meaning that is has passed an extensive evaluation and testing process by independent auditors. The new facility is expected to offer improved services and greater stability. Moving to a new collocation facility was a recommendation of the recent Protiviti audit, and it was also a critical path item to implement many of the audit’s other suggestions. The Agency’s recently created Information Technology Steering Committee was an active participant in the selection process, one of the group’s first major initiatives. The Committee will next take up a review of KPMG’s IT Horizon Plan recommendations. Contact: Carter Manucy
New Employee
Please welcome Yaritza Velez Gerena to the FMPA staff. Yaritza officially joined FMPA as Contract Compliance Auditor last Monday after ably serving as a temporary employee. Yaritza’s experience includes work with A Plus Accounting, Tax and Financial Services LLC and Price Waterhouse Coopers LLP. She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a major in accounting from Beard M. Baruch College, CUNY.
Guest Lecturer
Pramod Gurshaney was a guest lecturer at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla. Pramod spoke Feb. 16 to a group of graduate students on the topic of “Fuel Hedging Practices: A Comparison Between Airlines and Utilities.
THIS WEEK
ARP Rate Workshop
The ARP Executive Committee meets Tuesday via conference call at 2 p.m. for the monthly All-Requirements Project rate workshop. The workshop agenda includes: 1) an update on natural gas markets and liquidity, 2) an overview of February loads, costs and rate calculations, and 3) estimated rates for March through May. Contact: Jim Atz
Climate Change Workshop
FMPA will host a Climate Change workshop Wednesday in the Board room from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 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
Member System Visits
Bud Boudreaux will visit three member systems this week. He is scheduled to meet with Kevin McCarthy and Julio Rodriguez in Clewiston, as well as Maxine Brantley and Harry Ogletree in Moore Haven on Wednesday, and Becky Mattey, Cara Jennings and Susan Stanton in Lake Worth on Thursday.
Legislative Rally Debriefing
FMPA and FMEA staff will hold a debriefing session via conference call on Wednesday moing to discuss the 2010 APPA Legislative Rally. They will discuss successful elements of this year’s event and opportunities to improve the event next year. If you attended this year’s rally and have feedback you’d like to share, please contact Mark McCain.
Business Planning and Budget Committee
FMPA’s Business Planning and Budget Committee meets Friday in the Board room at 10:30 a.m. to discuss the fiscal 2011 Agency budget. A draft of the budget was posted on the Member Portal last Friday. Contact: Mark Larson
Solar Dedication Reminder
Friday is the deadline for All-Requirements members to RSVP for the Solar Demonstration Project Dedication on March 26 in Key West. Contact: Diane Nelson
Lineman’s Competition
The city of Ocala hosts the 2010 Florida Lineman’s Competition on Friday and Saturday. Established in 2001, the competition showcases the skills and knowledge of lineworkers in a fun and safe environment. FMPA will sponsor the winning team and the winning apprentice to attend the national competition. For more information, visit