FMPA Weekly
A weekly e-newsletter for FMPA members
July 25, 2016
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LAST WEEK
Policy Makers Liaisons Committee
FMPA’s Policy Makers Liaisons Committee met last Thursday during the FMEA Annual Conference at the Omni Orlando Resort and elected Mike Perri, Fort Pierce, as Chair and Matt Thro, Town of Havana, as Vice Chair. The Committee also approved the 2016-2017 meeting schedule and reviewed the Committee’s charter. The full agenda package is available on the Portal. Contact: Mark McCain
Board of Directors
FMPA’s Board of Directors met last Friday and approved: 1) resolution 2016-B2 – FMPA Non-ARP projects’ budgets and Agency allocations for fiscal 2017, 2) acceptance of the Executive Search Committee’s top-ranked candidate for General Manager and CEO, Jacob A. Williams, and 3) election of officers (see election story below). The full agenda package is available on the Portal. Contact: Nick Guarriello
Officer Elections
FMPA’s Board of Directors and the ARP Executive Committee elected 2016-2017 officers last Friday during their scheduled meetings. The Board re-elected Bill Conrad, Newberry, as Chairman, Barbara Quiñones, Homestead, as Vice Chairman, Larry Matte, Kissimmee, as Treasurer, and Lynne Tejeda, Key West, as Secretary. The ARP Executive Committee re-elected Howard McKinnon, Town of Havana, as Chairman and Lynne Tejeda, Key West, as Vice Chairman. Contact: Nick Guarriello
Guarriello Honored
Nick Guarriello was honored last Thursday at the FMPA luncheon during the FMEA Annual Conference. Board of Directors Chairman Bill Conrad and ARP Executive Committee Chairman Howard McKinnon presented Nick with a framed Resolution of Appreciation from FMPA, as well as a commemorative electric meter for his significant contributions to the electric utility industry and to public power.
3 Phase Times
FMPA’s Power Resources Division published the June 2016 edition of 3 Phase Times. This monthly report provides information about the All-Requirements Project’s (ARP) system peak, hourly loads, resource fuel mix, natural gas usage, natural gas pricing and more performance information. The report shows that natural gas represented 88.6% of FMPA’s total energy sources in June. ARP sold 90,871 MWh to the Florida Municipal Power Pool (FMPP) at an average price of $24.21 per MWh, which was lower than the estimated short-term forecast of 98,015 MWh. The FMPP Average Monthly Gas Dispatch Price in June was $3.16 per MMBtu, which is 88 cents higher than May’s average. For more information, download 3 Phase Times from the Portal. Contact: Frank Gaffney
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THIS WEEK
Interim Audit
FMPA’s independent auditors, Purvis, Gray and Company, will be at FMPA’s Orlando office beginning Monday to conduct the interim audit. The audit helps prepare for FMPA’s annual financial audit, which takes place after the close of the fiscal year. The auditors will review financial information for the Agency and FMPA’s power supply projects. Contact: Rick Minch
Sustainability Webinar
The American Public Power Association (APPA) will hold a webinar Tuesday for utilities that want to lea more about reporting sustainability metrics to stakeholders. American Municipal Power, Inc. has developed a tool targeted for small- and medium-sized utilities to help create this type of reporting. In addition to providing the tool, the webinar will discuss the value of developing these reports and sharing them with stakeholders. The webinar is free for members of APPA’s Demonstration of Energy & Efficiency Development (DEED) program or costs $99 for APPA members who are not DEED members. FMPA pays DEED dues on behalf of FMPA members who are also APPA members. Registration is available through APPA’s website.
Member City Visit
Tom Richards, Mark McCain and Sharon Smeenk travel to Bartow on Wednesday for a member city visit.
All-Requirements Project Weekly Load Statistics
The weekly update of the All-Requirements Project historical load graph has been posted on the Portal. The graph is updated through July 24. Contact: Jim Arntz
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COMING UP
Retirement Party
FMPA is planning a retirement party for General Manager and CEO Nick Guarriello. FMPA members and staff are invited to save the date for the evening of Wednesday, Aug. 24, which is the day before the FMPA goveing board meetings. Planning for the party is underway, and invitations will be emailed soon.
Substation Training
There is still time to register for FMPA’s continuing series of substation training classes. The next class is scheduled for Aug. 30 and 31 on the topic of substation maintenance. The training will be held at Orlando Utilities Commission’s engineering building in Orlando. The cost is $900 for the two-day session. The registration deadline is Aug. 12. Contact: Sharon Smeenk
Excellence as a Supervisor
Registration is now open for the first module of Excellence as a Supervisor training on Oct. 4 and 5 at FMPA’s Orlando office. The training is designed to provide supervisors or prospective supervisors with the skills necessary to be effective leaders. Training is divided into two series consisting of three modules each. The cost for the first series is $1,100. The program is open to utility and city employees. Contact: Sharon Smeenk
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INDUSTRY NEWS
League of Women Voters Takes Positions on Solar Amendments
The League of Women Voters of Florida announced last Thursday support for one solar power constitutional amendment in Florida and opposition to the other. The League endorsed passage of Amendment 4, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment that would give tax breaks to homes and businesses installing solar power and other renewable energy generation on their property. That measure will be on the primary election ballot Aug. 30. At the same time, the League announced its opposition to Amendment 1, an initiated constitutional amendment backed by the state’s investor-owned utilities, which will be on the general election ballot Nov. 8. Amendment 1 would give residents of Florida the right to own or lease solar energy equipment for personal use while ensuring that those who do not produce their own solar energy would not subsidize the costs of electric grid access and backup power to those who do. Both measures need a supermajority of 60% of those voting to pass. The League also announced it will partner with an organization called FL SUN to form solar co-ops for obtaining bulk discounts on rooftop solar installations. The group uses a competitive bidding process to select a single company that will install systems on individual participating homes. Financed by public and private grants, FL SUN’s first projects are in St. Petersburg and Orlando with plans to expand to Brevard, Volusia, Alachua and Sarasota counties.
NextEra and Hawaiian Electric Cancel Merger Plans
Florida-based NextEra Energy and Hawaiian Electric Industries announced July 18 that they were cancelling plans to merge after the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC) rejected the proposed merger. The PUC on July 15 cited the lack of specific commitments from the investor-owned utilities relating to distributed energy resources, which the Commission said “runs contrary to Hawaii’s status as a national leader in integrating high levels of distributed solar photovoltaic systems. NextEra and Hawaiian Electric announced the proposed merger in late 2014. The transaction was valued at approximately $4.3 billion. In reaching its conclusion, the PUC was most conceed with the benefits and risks to ratepayers, NextEra’s clean energy commitments, the effect on local goveance and the effect on competition in local energy markets. Under the terms of the merger agreement, NextEra will pay Hawaiian Electric a $90 million break-up fee and up to $5 million for reimbursement of expenses associated with the transaction.
White House Sets Solar Goal for Low, Moderate Income Households
The White House announced last week a goal of bringing 1 gigawatt of solar energy to low- and moderate-income families by 2020. As part of that effort, the White House announced $287 million in funding commitments from 120 private, state, local and philanthropic sectors in 36 states to support the deployment of solar energy in low- and moderate-income communities and promote community solar and energy efficiency. In addition, the Department of Energy announced a Community Solar Challenge that will award teams up to $100,000 to develop programs to cut energy bills in communities, particularly low-income communities. The total amount of commitments secured comes to more than $800 million in investment and more than 491 MW of solar power.
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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 Jeff Grainger or Holly Fuller 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: Jeff Grainger or Holly Fuller.
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Florida Municipal Power Agency
8553 Commodity Circle
Orlando, FL 32819-9002
Tel 407 355-7767
Fax 407 355-5794
http://www.fmpa.com
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