FMPA Weekly | September 26, 2016 | Member Edition

FMPA Weekly

 

A weekly e-newsletter for FMPA members

 

Sept. 26, 2016

 

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LAST WEEK

 

Treasure Coast Unit 1

Treasure Coast Energy Center Unit 1 was taken offline last Tuesday due to a tube leak inside the heat recovery steam generator. The leak was repaired, and the unit came back online Friday. Contact: David Schumann

 

Stanton Unit 1

Stanton Unit 1 was taken offline last Wednesday due to a boiler tube leak. The unit came back online Friday after repairs were completed. Contact: David Schumann

 

Market Research Task Force

The Market Research Task Force for FMPA’s solar photovoltaic project met last Tuesday via conference call to evaluate proposals received for market research services. The group will meet again this Wednesday at 10 a.m. via conference. Contact: Sharon Smeenk

 

3 Phase Times

FMPA’s Power Resources Division published the August 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 85.8% of FMPA’s total energy sources in August. ARP sold 71,028 MWh to the Florida Municipal Power Pool (FMPP) at an average price of $25.48 per MWh, which was higher than the estimated short-term forecast of 63,779 MWh. The FMPP Average Monthly Gas Dispatch Price in August was $3.37 per MMBtu, which is 56 cents lower than July’s average. For more information, download 3 Phase Times from the Portal. Contact: Frank Gaffney

 

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THIS WEEK

 

APPA Legislative Rally

The American Public Power Association (APPA) has scheduled its annual Legislative Rally for Feb. 27 to March 1, 2017, at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. The Rally is an opportunity for members of the public power community to participate in the federal legislative process. FMPA has budgeted funds to pay the travel expenses for 14 members to attend the Rally. Mark McCain sent an email on Monday to FMPA’s members with information about the Rally, and the first 14 people to respond to Mark will be eligible for travel reimbursement.

 

Advance Metering Initiative

Representative from three Florida cities plan to attend presentations this Tuesday in two Georgia cities that are hosting Advanced Metering Initiative (AMI) pilot projects. Electric Cities of Georgia (ECG) is supporting the development of the AMI projects on behalf of its Georgia cities. ECG extended an invitation to FMPA members to join the presentations. Contact: Sharon Smeenk

 

Member City Visits

Tom Richards travels to Lakeland this Tuesday for a member city visit. Jacob Williams and Frank Gaffney travel to Homestead on Thursday and Key West on Friday for member city visits.

 

Market Research Task Force

The Market Research Task Force for FMPA’s solar photovoltaic project meets Wednesday at 10 a.m. via conference call to discuss: 1) follow up on the evaluation of proposals, 2) finalize the scope of work, 3) select a preferred market research firm, 4) preparation for the survey, and 4) next steps and date for the next Task Force meeting. Contact: Sharon Smeenk

 

Meter Tech Roundtable

FMPA’s Meter Tech Roundtable will be held Thursday at Kissimmee Utility Authority. The roundtable provides a forum for meter technicians and maintenance staff to discuss topics such as operating procedures, equipment, safety, training and more. Contact: Sharon Smeenk

 

Meal Per Diem Calculator

FMPA’s Meal Per Diem Calculator updated for fiscal 2017 will be available on the Portal and on FMPA’s staff intranet by Friday. The meal rates for Florida are the same as fiscal 2016. In other parts of the lower 48 continental states, the Federal Govement’s GSA could have made minor updates that affect some per diem rates. Richard Montgomery, the creator of FMPA’s calculator, is implementing a couple user enhancements for the calculator’s fiscal 2017 version. In the coming version, the selection boxes for state and city will have a type-ahead feature that eliminates scrolling to find the location alphabetically. Also, the calculator will allow users to input travel dates that are in the future without a waing notice. Contact: Mark McCain

 

United Way’s Day of Caring

Nine FMPA employees will volunteer this Friday as part of United Way’s Day of Caring. This is the eighth year that FMPA staff have participated in Central Florida’s largest volunteer event. FMPA’s project this year will be painting at the Community Coordinated Care for Children in Kissimmee. This year’s volunteers include Ann Beckwith, Luis Cruz, Ryan Dumas, Michele Jackson, Konrad Lisiewicz, Carter Manucy, Mark McCain, Brandon McCormick and Peter Moore. Thank you to Mark McCain and Ryan Dumas for organizing this year’s participation.

 

Piggybacking Guidelines

FMPA staff has been directed by the Audit and Risk Oversight Committee (AROC) to propose language for the Agency’s Procurement Policy that would allow the use of piggyback contracts. AROC said the policy addition needs to include specific guidelines for the parameters of piggybacking. Any FMPA members that have similar piggybacking guidelines in their procurement policies are asked to send them to Mark McCain. FMPA’s proposed policy revisions will be presented for approval to the AROC and then to the Executive Committee and Board of Directors.

 

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 Sept. 25. Contact: Jim Arntz

 

Special Dates  

Congratulations to Fred Bryant, who celebrates 18 years with FMPA on Saturday, Oct. 1.

Congratulations to Tim Jackson, who celebrates nine years with FMPA on Saturday, Oct. 1.

Congratulations to Matthew Nichols, who celebrates two years with FMPA on Saturday, Oct. 1.

 

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COMING UP

 

Lineman Roundtable

This is the final week to register for FMPA’s Lineman Roundtable, which will be held Oct. 6 at Bushnell City Hall. The meeting is open to all levels of line crew personnel as well as any utility staff member. The roundtable provides a forum for lineworkers to exchange ideas on operating practices, safety, training, tools, equipment and more. Registration is available until Thursday on FMPA’s website. Contact: Sharon Samuels

 

FMEA Energy Connections Conference

The registration deadline has been extended until this Saturday for the Florida Municipal Electric Association’s (FMEA) Energy Connections Conference and Trade Show. The conference is scheduled for Oct. 27-28 in Orlando. The program is designed for technical personnel, safety managers, customer service representatives, managers and supervisors from all lines of the public power business. The cost for FMEA members is $250. Registration is available on FMEA’s website.

 

Energy Auditors Roundtable

Registration is open for FMPA’s Energy Auditors Roundtable scheduled for Nov. 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Tallahassee. The roundtable provides a forum for participants to discuss work procedures, policies and practices, industry changes, equipment and materials, site specific issues, and other topics of interest. The roundtable is open to any utility staff member who has an interest in energy audit topics. Contact: Sharon Samuels

 

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INDUSTRY NEWS

 

Tallahassee Power Restoration on Par or Better than Response to Similar Storms

Research on storm restoration shows that the city of Tallahassee’s electric restoration following Hurricane Hermine was on par or faster than restoration in the hardest hit areas of similar-strength storms. Hermine created outages for 80% of Tallahassee’s electric customers. Four days later, 80% of customers were restored, five days later 90% were restored and six days later all customers were back in service. Information from state and federal sources was used to chart response times from similar storms, and it shows that Tallahassee’s response time compares favorably.

 

FPL Presents Ten-Year Site Plan to PSC

Florida Power & Light (FPL) does not project a significant, long-term need for additional generating capacity until 2024 and 2025, according to company officials who presented a Ten-Year Site Plan to the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) on Sept. 14. Because the need is not for several years, FPL has not made a final decision how best to meet the need, but the plan shows a large, natural-gas combined cycle unit at a green-field site in 2024. Since 2013, FPL has built three new natural gas-fired power plants at Cape Canaveral, Riviera Beach and Port Everglades at approximately $1 billion each. A similar plant is scheduled to begin commercial operation in Okeechobee in 2019. FPL’s latest 10-year plan describes that the utility continues to pursue new, cost-effective solar generating capacity. FPL is in the process of adding three new photovoltaic (PV) facilities that will be in service by the end of 2016. Each of the facilities will be approximately 75 MW. As a result, FPL’s solar generating capacity will increase from 110 MW to approximately 333 MW. FPL said the economics of these PV projects are aided by the fact that the sites are located close to existing electric infrastructure, including transmission lines and electric substations. FPL is projecting the addition of another 300 MW of PV by 2021. A final determination of the siting for this new PV has not yet been made. FPL’s plan shows that the utility continues to pursue new nuclear capacity at the Turkey Point site, but the earliest practical in-service dates are mid-2027 for Unit 6 and mid-2028 for Unit 7. FPL’s plan shows the utility is in the process of retiring 44 older gas turbine units and adding seven larger, more efficient combustion turbines by the end of 2016.

 

Moody’s: Public Power Financial Performance Stable

U.S. public power electric utilities continue to demonstrate stable financial performance, according to a Moody’s Investors Service report released last week. Moody’s said the steady trend is attributed to low natural gas prices, low interest rates, flat demand, low borrowing and the utilities’ ability to increase rates when needed. Public power’s average debt service coverage also remains steady at 1.77-times in fiscal 2015 for utilities that own generation. Moody’s forecasts debt service to remain steady in 2017.

 

“Smart Solar Group Raises $21.2 Million to Promote Solar Amendment

A political committee backing a proposed solar energy ballot initiative raised $2.35 million from Aug. 27 to Sept. 2, with major utilities continuing to contribute money to the effort, according to recently released financial reports. The group, known as “Consumers for Smart Solar, had raised an overall total of nearly $21.2 million and had $5.3 million in cash on hand as of Sept. 2. The proposed constitutional amendment, which will appear on the November ballot as Amendment 1, has drawn opposition from environmentalists and some other groups. If approved by voters, the initiative essentially would put into the state Constitution existing rules on the use of solar energy in Florida. Consumers for Smart Solar has been heavily funded by four major investor-owned utilities. From Aug. 27 to Sept. 2, it received $900,000 from Florida Power & Light; $477,372 from Tampa Electric Co.; $325,000 from Gulf Power; and $250,000 from Duke Energy, according to finance report posted on the state Division of Elections website.

 

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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 Nikki Bloomfield 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.

 

Have a question, comment or story idea for the newsletter? FMPA welcomes your feedback at any time. Contact: Jeff Grainger or Nikki Bloomfield.

 

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http://www.fmpa.com
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