FMPA Weekly | Oct. 10, 2011 | Member Edition

 

FMPA Weekly

A weekly e-newsletter for FMPA members

 

Oct. 10, 2011

 


 

LAST WEEK

 

Public Power Week

Public power utilities across the United States celebrated Public Power Week last week. This year marked the event’s 25th anniversary. Several FMPA members celebrated the week by holding contests and events in their communities. New Smya Beach Utilities Commission hosted an energy exposition at Coronado Elementary School with solar car races, a static electricity activity and bucket truck demonstrations. Keys Energy Services held trivia contests on their social media sites. Fort Pierce Utilities Authority distributed energy conservation information to customers. Kissimmee Utility Authority held a community blood drive, social media contests, an employee field day, and an employee appreciation luncheon hosted and served by their Board of Directors. The city of Ocala gave out compact fluorescent light bulbs and popco in their front lobby.

 

Finance Meetings

FMPA’s Treasury and Finance departments met last Tuesday with representatives from Bank of American Merrill Lynch to discuss the bank’s recent credit rating down grade. During the meeting, the representatives reviewed the bank’s financial statistics and position in the marketplace and assured FMPA staff that their level of commitment to its customers would not change.

 

Load Forecast Meeting

FMPA’s Planning Department began planning last Thursday for the 2012 All-Requirements Project load forecast, a forecast of peak demand and energy loads. FMPA staff met with representatives from SAIC to discuss this year’s process. The Planning Department hopes to have draft load forecasts ready for review by December. Contact: Sharon Smeenk

 

Cane Island Unit 4 Outage

Cane Island Unit 4 came back online last Friday after a planned outage. Contact: David Schumann

 

Treasure Coast Outage

Treasure Coast Unit 1 was taken offline last Saturday for a planned fall outage. The unit will remain offline through Nov. 5 for scheduled repairs and improvements. The work plan includes the first major improvements to the unit since it began commercial operation on June 1, 2008. During the outage, a new exhaust hood will be installed on the steam turbine and the gas turbine compressor will be upgraded to a more efficient model. Unit 1’s combustion turbine will undergo a hot gas path inspection to examine parts exposed to high temperatures from gases discharged during the combustion process. The connection ring blocking and ties on both the gas turbine and steam turbine will be replaced to reduce vibration, eliminate erosion of the protective coating and maintain proper spacing in the generator. Contact: David Schumann

 

 


 

THIS WEEK

 

PGP Annual Meeting

Mark Larson travels to Tulsa, Okla., Monday through Wednesday to attend Public Gas Partners’ (PGP) annual strategic planning meeting. Nick Guarriello is participating in the meetings via conference call. While in Tulsa, Mark and members of PGP will tour natural gas drilling sites and meet with site operators.

 

Safety Compliance Update for Electric Utilities 

FMPA hosts the National Electrical Safety Code (NESC) compliance update for electric utilities Wednesday at 10 a.m. in the Board room. This workshop will review updates to Part 4 of NESC-2012 including: 1) voltage requirements for arc flash assessments, 2) risk factors to consider when developing an arc flash implementation strategy, and 3) basic methodology for incident energy level calculations on low-voltage systems. Contact: Sharon Samuels

 

Member City Visits

Bud Boudreaux and Fred Bryant travel to Jacksonville Beach on Wednesday to meet with City Manager George Forbes and Director of Beaches Energy Services Roy Trotter.

 

All-Requirements Project Weekly Load Statistics

The weekly update of the All-Requirements Project historical load graph has been posted on the Member Portal. The graph is updated through Oct. 9. Contact: Jim Atz

 

 


 

COMING UP

 

FMEA Utility Education Days

Florida Municipal Electric Association’s 2011 Utility Education and Trade Show Days are scheduled for Oct. 18 at the Jupiter Beach Hotel and Oct. 19 at the Gainesville Hilton. Registered participants will discuss topics including customer service, safety and training, transmission and distribution, and lineworker skills. Participants will be able to attend a Smart Grid Solutions Workshop, which runs concurrently with the conference. Visit Florida” rel=”nofollow”>http://www.floridaenergysummit.com/index.html>Florida Energy Summit Website for more information

 

Audit and Risk Oversight Committee

FMPA’s Audit and Risk Oversight Committee will meet Oct. 27 at 8 a.m. in the Board room. Contact: Rich Popp

 

ARP Executive Committee
The ARP Executive Committee will meet Oct. 27 at 9 a.m. in the Board room. Contact: Nick Guarriello

 

Lineman’s Roundtable
FMPA’s semi-annual Lineman’s Roundtable is scheduled for Nov. 9 at Ocala Utility Services’ Operations Center. http://www.fmpa.com/index.php/component/registrationpro/?view=event&did=37>Registration; is requested and lunch will be provided. Contact: Sharon Samuels

 

Underground Distribution Certification
The Underground Distribution Certification program is scheduled for Nov. 8 through Nov. 10 in Adele, Ga. Program information is available on the
Member Portal. Contact: Mike Siefert

 

APPA Smart Grid, Safety and NERC Compliance Symposium
FMPA is co-hosting the American Public Power Association’s (APPA)three upcoming training opportunities at the Orlando Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress. APPA’s Smart Grid Summit is Nov. 14 and Nov. 15 and will discuss topics including cyber security, smart grid standards and regulations, data management, smart grid benefits and the importance of effective customer communication. In conjunction with the Smart Grid Summit, APPA will hold National Electrical Safety Code training on Nov. 14 and Nov. 15 that will discuss revisions as well as the origins, purpose and organization of the code and its applications to utility transmission and distribution systems. On Nov. 16 and Nov. 17, APPA will hold a NERC Compliance Plan Development Workshop that will provide tools to prepare for NERC audits and help participants understand reliability standards. Information on all three events is available on proposed” rel=”nofollow”>http://www.epa.gov/crossstaterule/actions.html>proposed technical adjustments last Thursday to its Cross-State Air Pollution Rule that will increase emission allowance budgets in 10 states, including Florida, by about 1%. The proposed changes also would increase opportunities for market-based compliance options until 2014. The revisions reflect new information received after the final rule was published, and in most cases the changes are based on previously misreported or incompletely reported industry data, EPA said. The proposal revises some discrepancies affecting state emission allowance budgets in Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Texas and Wisconsin and new unit set‐asides in Arkansas and Texas. It also revises unit‐level allocations in Alabama, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee to better account for utility consent decrees. To promote the development of liquidity in the emission allowance market, the proposal amends the final rule’s assurance penalty provisions so it starts in 2014 instead of 2012. The assurance provisions are intended to provide sources within each state with limited flexibility so that they can continue to comply with the rule in years in which more fossil fuel generation occurs than projected in the average base case year, EPA said.

 

 


 

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 Ryan Dumas or Ashley Henderscheid This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it 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: Ryan Dumas or Ashley Henderscheid

 

 


 

Florida Municipal Power Agency
8553 Commodity Circle
Orlando, FL 32819-9002
Tel 407 355-7767
Fax 407 355-5794
http://www.fmpa.com />
Community Power. Statewide Strength. ®