FMPA Weekly
A weekly e-newsletter for FMPA members
April 26, 2010
LAST WEEK
Circuit Court Upholds FERC Orders
The Washington, D.C., Circuit Court of Appeals denied on April 16 FMPA’s request for a reversal of two Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) orders regarding the rate base for network transmission service using Florida Power and Light’s (FPL) facilities. FMPA asked the Court to reverse FERC’s orders denying FMPA reductions to lower FPL’s transmission rates and ensure comparable treatment of FMPA and its members’ transmission facilities. FERC’s ruling, affirmed by the Court, permits FPL to charge FMPA and its members a load-ratio share of all FPL transmission facilities, even facilities that serve FPL’s local load, but does not provide comparable transmission credits for all facilities owned by FMPA or its members because it excludes facilities that serve our local load. This marks the end of a long-running case that began in 1993.
PGP Board of Directors
Public Gas Partners (PGP) held meetings for its Board of Directors, Pool 1 and Pool 2 participants last Tuesday in Atlanta. Jim Atz and Mark Larson participated via conference call. The meetings provided status updates on projects, general and administrative budgets for 2011, capital budgets for 2011, and PGP’s Board officers for next year.
Audit and Risk Oversight Committee
FMPA’s Audit and Risk Oversight Committee (AROC) met last Wednesday and approved action items including: 1) the AROC charter, and 2) a risk inventory. The Committee discussed the possible restructuring of FMPA’s natural gas purchase with BP and advised staff not to proceed with investigating restructuring. Dan Aschenbach and Andrew Cleary from Moody’s Investors Service gave a presentation to the Committee about the public power industry credit outlook and risk mitigation. Contact: Rich Popp
CR3 Outage Update
Removal of delaminated concrete from a crack in the containment building at Crystal River Unit 3 is 44% complete. Repair teams are projected to complete demolition by May 11. A mock-up concrete wall form has been constructed to replicate the repair condition for testing. Teams will place new concrete on the mock-up form to validate the repair plan before beginning. Site contractors still estimate the unit will retu to service mid-year. Contact: David Schumann
Bank Meetings
Janet Davis, Kristi Knight, Mark Larson and Ed Nunez met last Thursday with representatives from SunTrust Bank’s capital markets group to discuss what the company is doing to minimize the impact of SunTrust’s recent credit downgrade on its customers, including FMPA. SunTrust is a remarketer and credit-support provider for one of the All-Requirements Project’s variable-rate notes. Janet Davis, Mark Larson and Ed Nunez also met last Friday with representatives from JP Morgan to receive a market update and discuss financing and capital market opportunities for FMPA.
THIS WEEK
FERC Training
FMPA employees will participate in training on Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Orders 888, 889 and 890 on Monday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Board room. Participants will cover a broad overview of the orders, which conce open access transmission rules. The training is the second session FMPA has hosted as part of its new FERC regulatory compliance program. Contact: Frank Gaffney
Cost Center Teams
Cost center teams for the All-Requirements Project (ARP) fiscal 2011 budget will meet Monday through Thursday via conference call. The Transmission team will meet Monday at 10:30 a.m. and the ARP Owned Capacity team will meet at 2 p.m. The Debt and Capital Leases team will meet Wednesday at 10:30 a.m., the Direct Charges team at 2 p.m. and the Gas Transportation Capacity team at 3:30 p.m. The Fuels team will meet at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday and the Contract Capacity team will meet at 2 p.m. Contact: Mark Larson
CREAC Meeting
FMPA’s Conservation and Renewable Energy Advisory Committee (CREAC) meets Tuesday from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. via conference call. The Committee will consider an action item to renew the ARP Conservation Program and set funding levels for fiscal 2011. Contact: Sharon Smeenk
Consumer-to-Business Collections Workshop
FMPA hosts a Consumer-to-Business workshop Thursday 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, ways to respond to payment trends, risks associated with response methods and ideas for optimal cash management applications to support consumer trends. The presenter is Craig S. Sandy Saxer, senior vice president of sales development for PNC Bank Treasury Management. Tuesday is the deadline to http://fmpa.com/index.php/component/registrationpro/?view=event&did=21>
Treasure Coast Outage
FMPA will commence a planned outage of Treasure Coast Energy Center Unit 1 on Saturday. The unit is expected to retu to service May 8. During the outage, teams will inspect and repair the steam turbine and heat recovery steam generator. Contact: Jim Hay
Mock Audits
FMPA will complete a mock audit Friday for Kissimmee Utility Authority. Part of FMPA’s Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Program, the mock audits are provided to help members proactively identify and correct potential audit issues. The next mock audit will be at Lakeland Electric on May 27 and May 28. Contact: Frank Gaffney
Member Portal Spotlight: Public Relations and Public Affairs
The Public Relations section on FMPA’s Member Portal is a great place to find communication resources and information about the organization. The section houses all the items in the Communication Toolkit to help FMPA members get the word out about the benefits of public power. The toolkit includes bill stuffers, brochures, PowerPoint presentations and online tools. The Public Relations section also includes links to the Board Orientation, Fact Sheets, Information Briefings and FMPA Glossary for people looking to become better acquainted with FMPA’s business. The Public Relations section is also home to the Logo Apparel Catalog, from which Board members and employees can order FMPA embroidered clothing. As a supplement to this section, the Public Relations Department recently created a Public Affairs section on the Member Portal. The Public Affairs section includes links to information on state and federal legislative issues conceing FMPA, including recent efforts to subject the Agency to regulation by the Florida Public Service Commission. If there is something you would like to see added to the Public Relations or Public Affairs sections, contact Diane Nelson.
All-Requirements Project Load
The weekly update of the All-Requirements Project historical load graph has been posted on the Member Portal. The graph is updated through May 1. Contact: Jim Atz
Service Anniversaries
Congratulations to Juan Bailey, who celebrates two years with FMPA on Wednesday, April 28.
Congratulations to Rich Popp, who celebrates eight consecutive years with FMPA on Thursday, April 29. Rich also worked with FMPA for two additional years before taking another job and later retuing to the Agency, for a total of ten years of service.
Congratulations to Jamie Noon, who celebrates five years with FMPA on Sunday, May 2.
COMING UP
Business Planning and Budget Committee Meeting Changes
The start time for FMPA’s Business Planning and Budget Committee meeting on May 14 has been changed to 9 a.m. The Committee’s tentative meeting scheduled for May 28 has been moved to May 26 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., the day before the ARP Executive Committee meeting.
Lineman’s Roundtable
FMPA hosts a lineman’s roundtable May 5 from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Center in the city of Mount Dora. The roundtable will provide a forum for line crews to exchange ideas on operating practices, safety, training, tools and equipment. In response to requests from attendees at the last roundtable in November 2009, FMPA has invited Jon Hull from QORE Property Sciences to give an overview on dealing with hazardous materials in the field. Lunch will be provided for attendees. Contact: Sharon Samuels
Board of Directors
FMPA’s Board of Directors will hold a special-called telephonic meeting May 7 at 11:30 a.m. The Board will appoint a nominating committee to elect officers for 2010-2011. Contact: Sue Utley
APPA National Conference in Florida
The American Public Power Association (APPA) will hold its http://www.appanet.org/events/annualeventdetail.cfm?ItemNumber=26074&sn.ItemNumber=0>
INDUSTRY NEWS
Crist’s PSC Nominees Hit Snag
A state Senate committee slated to vote last Tuesday on Gov. Charlie Crist’s appointees to the Public Service Commission adjoued without taking a vote and the committee Chairman called the nominees unqualified. Crist said he still hopes Commissioners David Klement of Bradenton and Benjamin Stevens of Pensacola can get a confirmation vote. Senator Alex Diaz de la Portilla suggested withdrawing the nominations from the committee and putting them to a vote of the full Senate. Crist said he had no response to the committee’s actions, but that the Senate President had encouraged the committee to move forward on the appointments.
House Energy Bill and PSC Reform Bill Move Forward
The Florida House of Representatives approved an energy bill last Friday without any amendment related to FMPA being offered by Rep. Baxter Troutman. The House also approved a bill Thursday to reform the Public Service Commission, without any amendments adverse to municipal electric utilities. Both bills will be heard for the third and final time this week, which is the final week of the legislative session.
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