FMPA Weekly
A weekly e-newsletter for FMPA members
April 5, 2010
LAST WEEK
Fort Meade Workshop
Representatives from FMPA attended a workshop in Fort Meade last Wednesday to address conces raised by the City Commission. On hand for FMPA were Board Chairman Vince Ruano from Bushnell, Executive Committee member Matt Brower from Ocala, Nick Guarriello and Fred Bryant. FMPA responded to all questions during the three-hour meeting, which was attended by more than 100 citizens. In a conciliatory effort to be responsive to Fort Meade’s request, Nick read a motion approved March 26 by the ARP Executive Committee that offered to conduct an independent operational review of FMPA, contingent on no legislation that relates to FMPA being passed in the Florida Legislature. Since the meeting was structured as a workshop, the City Commission could not take immediate action on the offer. FMPA prepared a handout summarizing its presentation, as well as copies of a two-page summary and a letter from Executive Committee Chairman Tom Richards of Fort Pierce. All 50 copies of the presentation materials were picked up by those in attendance. FMPA’s presentation is available on the Member Portal.
Ten-Year Site Plan
FMPA’s Power Supply and System Planning Department filed the Agency’s Ten-Year Site Plan last week. The Plan, which is updated annually in April, describes FMPA’s estimated power generating needs for the next 10 years and identifies the location and type of any proposed near-term generation capacity and transmission additions. This edition reports that based on recent All-Requirements Project (ARP) load projections, the addition of Cane Island Unit 4 will allow the ARP to meet its generation capacity requirements until 2019. At this time, FMPA is planning to meet the ARP’s need for additional generation capacity in 2019 through a power purchase from a supplier to be determined. FMPA will continue to develop sufficient and cost-effective resource alteatives for the ARP through its integrated resource planning process. Contact: Michele Jackson
Regulatory Compliance Program
FMPA’s ARP Executive Committee adopted on March 26 a Regulatory Compliance Program to monitor, assess and enforce compliance with: 1) applicable Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) tariffs, orders and regulations, 2) the requirements of the Federal Power Act as they apply to a non-jurisdictional entity such as FMPA, and 3) relevant laws goveing market activities in the power industry. The Program includes components such as an expectation of a culture of compliance throughout FMPA, a Regulatory Compliance Officer who reports directly to the General Manager, inteal monitoring and audit processes, training for all affected employees, and prompt detection response and resolution of compliance issues. Training for affected employees began in January and will continue in April. Contact: Frank Gaffney
ARP Business Model Working Group
The All-Requirements Project Business Model Working Group met last Thursday to discuss demand-side load management and FMPA’s wholesale power rates. The Group will meet again May 7 at 9:30 a.m. to continue its discussion of these topics. Contact: Nick Guarriello
Investment Bank Meeting
Janet Davis and Mark Larson met last Thursday with representatives from Jefferies, a municipal securities company, to discuss options for refinancing the St. Lucie Project.
Budget Reviews
Members of FMPA’s Accounting Department met last Friday to review budgets for the Agency’s power supply projects, excluding the All-Requirements Project. Contact: Janet Davis
Cane Island Unit 4
Site teams continue to make excellent progress on Unit 4 at Cane Island Power Park. FMPA’s safety consultant, Pam Tompkins with SET Solutions, will visit the site the week of April 12 to evaluate the unit. Project participants will hold the first of many meetings April 13 to prepare for unit startup and a monthly owners meeting to discuss construction progress will be held April 14. Contact: Steve Carroll
New Collocation Facility
FMPA’s Information Technology Department successfully transferred the Agency’s inteal corporate IT structure last week from Time Waer Telecom to a new collocation provider, DataSite Orlando. 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 new facility is expected to offer improved services and greater stability. Contact: Carter Manucy
CR3 Outage Update
Teams working to repair cracks in Crystal River Unit 3’s containment building completed tendon detensioning last Thursday. The next phase of the repair, removing the delaminated concrete, will commence Monday. Site supervisors still anticipate that the unit will retu to service mid-year, pending repair progress. Due to the extended length of this outage, the plant’s next outage will be deferred until spring 2012. Contact: David Schumann
FERC Orders
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) released several orders March 18 related to electric system reliability. FMPA is working with the Transmission Access Policy Study Group (TAPS) to determine the impact of these orders and formulate a response. Contact: Frank Gaffney
Mock Audits
FMPA completed a mock audit last week for the Utilities Commission of New Smya Beach. Mock audits, part of FMPA’s Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Program, are provided to help members proactively identify potential audit issues in time to correct them. Volunteers from ARP cities review and critique a utility’s evidence several months prior to official Florida Reliability Coordinating Council (FRCC) audits. The next mock audit will take place at Kissimmee Utility Authority. Contact: Doug Smith
THIS WEEK
FECC Awards Grants
The Energy” rel=”nofollow”>http://www.appanet.org/utility/utility.cfm?ItemNumber=21923&navItemNumber=21021>Energy Efficiency Resource Central Web site.
All-Requirements Project Load
The All-Requirements Project’s peak for the month of March was 1005 megawatts, which occurred March 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 March was 58%. The month’s peak was 95% of the budgeted peak, and energy was 85% of budget which was a result of mild, dry weather across the state. A graph showing the All-Requirements Project hourly load for the month of March is available on the Member Portal. Contact: Jim Atz
COMING UP
Conservation Program Quarterly Reports
All-Requirements Project members are reminded to retu their quarterly reports to document ARP Conservation Program efforts between Jan. 1 and March 31. Reports are due April 15. Contact: Sharon Smeenk
Safety Training
FMPA hosts two days of safety skills training for participants in the Lineman’s Safety Training Program on April 19 and April 20 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at FMPA. Lunch will be provided for attendees. There is no cost associated with the training, which is only open to the 12 member cities who already participate in the Program. The sessions will cover underground standard operating procedures, distribution switching and transformer connections and banking. Contact Mike Siefert to register.
CREAC Meeting
FMPA’s Conservation and Renewable Energy Advisory Committee (CREAC) will meet April 27 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. via conference call. A full agenda for the call will be posted in the upcoming weeks.
Consumer-to-Business Collections Workshop
FMPA hosts a Consumer-to-Business workshop April 29 from 10 a.m. to noon at FMPA. The workshop is free for FMPA members, and lunch will be provided for attendees. The session will also be Webcast for those who cannot attend in person. Participants will discuss consumer payment trends, opportunities to respond to trends, the relative risks associated with response methods and ideas for optimal cash management applications to support consumer trends. register” rel=”nofollow”>http://fmpa.com/index.php/component/registrationpro/?view=event&did=19>register online by April 23. Contact: Sharon Samuels
Environmental Waste Management for Electric Utilities Workshop
FMPA hosts a workshop on Environmental Waste Management for Electric Utilities on May 12 from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at FMPA. Lunch will be provided for attendees, and the session will be Webcast for those who cannot attend in person. The workshop will provide utility staff with an understanding of the requirements for managing waste generated as part of utility operations, including solvents, paints, used oil, lamps and ballasts containing mercury, batteries, utility poles, herbicides and pesticides. Professional Engineers who attend the course will receive four professional development hours from the Florida Board of Professional Engineers for completion of this course. Register” rel=”nofollow”>http://fmpa.com/index.php/component/registrationpro/?view=event&did=22>Register online by April 23 to participate. Contact: Sharon Samuels
Dog Bite Prevention Workshop
FMPA hosts a Dog Bite Prevention workshop May 20 at FMPA. The workshop, presented in conjunction with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Central Florida, helps utility employees minimize the likelihood of a dog attack. The course will teach participants how to recognize and respond to hazardous situations with dangerous or potentially dangerous dogs. Register” rel=”nofollow”>http://fmpa.com/index.php/component/registrationpro/?view=event&did=23>Register online by June 14. Contact: Mike Siefert
INDUSTRY NEWS
FPL: Meeting State-Mandated Conservation Goals Could Cost Customers
Meeting state-mandated energy conservation goals could cost FPL customers that use 1,000 kWh a month an additional $2 to $3, the company said last Wednesday. That money, billed as a “cost recovery clause, would pay for rebates customers could receive for conservation efforts such as installing a solar water heater or increasing the efficiency of air-conditioning systems. The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) is requiring FPL to reduce energy demand by 1,498 MW during the next 10 years. In addition, the PSC order requires expenditures of up to $15.5 million annually on solar pilot programs. FPL has proposed continuing 18 existing conservation programs and starting 12 new ones. Among the new programs proposed are window sunscreens and refrigerator replacement. If the programs are approved and customers participate widely, resulting in reduced electricity demand, the company would need to recover the lost revenue through a base rate increase in addition to the cost recovery clause. No base rate increase is proposed at this point, said FPL spokesman Mayco Villafana.
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 Skye Guthrie or Diane Nelson in FMPA’s Public Relations Department.
Want more background on the names and terms used in this newsletter? Check out FMPA’s Glossary, which features some of the most frequently mentioned committees, companies, places and terms, or contact the person named in each FMPA story to lea more. (Click here for the Staff Directory).
Have a question, comment or story idea for the newsletter? FMPA welcomes your feedback at any time. Contact: Skye Guthrie or Diane Nelson