FMPA Weekly
A weekly e-newsletter for FMPA members
Dec. 18, 2017
LAST WEEK
Vero Beach Member City Votes
The goveing boards for Leesburg and Newberry approved resolutions last week that will enable the City of Vero Beach to sell its electric utility. Ten out of 19 member cities have now approved the necessary consents and waivers. Contact: Jacob Williams
Ocala Representative
The Ocala City Council on Dec. 8 appointed Councilman Brent Malever as the city’s representative to FMPA’s Policy Makers Liaisons Committee.
Audit and Risk Oversight Committee
The Audit and Risk Oversight Committee (AROC) met last Thursday and discussed: 1) St. Lucie capital appreciation bonds quarterly update, 2) 2017 generation performance report, 3) fuel market update, and 4) risk management policy reviews. The full agenda package is available on the Portal. Contact: Rich Popp
Board of Directors
FMPA’s Board of Directors met last Thursday and approved: 1) the retu of $5 million from the Development Fund, and 2) the 2018 Board of Directors meeting schedule. The full agenda package is available on the Portal. Contact: Jacob Williams
Executive Committee
The Executive Committee met last Thursday and approved the 2018 meeting schedule. The full agenda package is available on the Portal. Contact: Jacob Williams
David Anderson Honored
FMPA presented a plaque last Thursday to David Anderson of Ocala Electric Utility (OEU) in recognition of his 11 years of service to FMPA. David retired from OEU last Friday. He has partnered with FMPA staff and members on numerous projects, served on the Audit and Risk Oversight Committee since 2006 and served as Ocala’s alteate representative to FMPA’s Board and Executive Committee for several months in late 2014. Contact: Jacob Williams
Cane Island Unit 3
Cane Island Unit 3 retued to service last Sunday after a planned maintenance outage. Contact: David Schumann
IRS Mileage Rate
The Inteal Revenue Service (IRS) announced last Thursday an increase in the standard mileage rate used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business effective Jan. 1, 2018. The rate will increase from 53.5 cents in 2017 to 54.5 cents in 2018. The change will be updated on FMPA’s Travel Expense Report forms. Members and staff should use the updated IRS rate for travel after Jan. 1. Contact: Mark Larson
THIS WEEK
AROC Special Called Meeting
The Audit and Risk Oversight Committee meeting originally scheduled for Monday at 2 p.m. has been cancelled. This meeting will be rescheduled to conduct an exit conference with FMPA’s exteal auditors, Purvis, Gray and Co. Contact: Rich Popp
Solar Project Telephonic Workshops
Two telephonic workshops with webcast will be held to review the enabling agreements and other documents associated with the proposed Solar Project. A workshop will be held Monday at 10 a.m. for ARP Executive Committee members and interested parties focusing on documents related to All-Requirements Project (ARP) participants. Another workshop for non-ARP participants will be held Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. Contact: Jacob Williams
Member City Visit
Mark McCain travels to Mount Dora on Monday for a member city visit.
Vero Beach Member City Vote
Frank Gaffney travels to New Smya Beach on Monday for a scheduled vote related to the proposed sale of Vero Beach’s electric utility.
Vero Beach Presentation
Jacob Williams, Jody Finklea and Frank Gaffney visit Lake Worth on Tuesday to give a presentation to the city’s Utility Advisory Board on the proposed sale of Vero Beach’s electric utility.
APPA Legislative Rally
Mark McCain and Ryan Dumas meet Tuesday via conference call with Amy Zubaly and Nicole Albers from the Florida Municipal Electric Association and FMPA’s federal lobbyist Michael Nolan to begin planning for the 2018 Legislative Rally in Washington. The Rally, hosted by the American Public Power Association (APPA), will be held Feb. 26-28. Anyone who plans to attend the Rally should make their travel plans and https://www.publicpower.org/event/legislative-rally>
Holiday Office Closure
FMPA’s offices will be closed this Friday and Monday, Dec. 25 in observance of the Christmas holiday. Best wishes to all for a safe and happy holiday.
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 Dec. 17. Contact: Jim Atz
COMING UP
ARP Telephonic Rate Workshop
The ARP Executive Committee will meet Jan. 9 at 2 p.m. via conference call for the monthly All-Requirements Project Rate Workshop. Contact: Jason Wolfe
Frontline Utility and Safety Leadership Courses
FMPA will host four Frontline Utility and Safety Leadership Courses at the Orlando office in 2018. Members of FMPA and Florida Municipal Electric Association are eligible for a discount of $200 off tuition when using the discount code “FMPA18. The first session, Safety Leadership, will be Feb. 8-9. https://www.membership.usoln.org/assnfe/ev.asp?ID=364>
INDUSTRY NEWS
Gov. Rick Scott has not decided how to fill an open seat on the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) after the withdrawal of appointee Ritch Workman, who was accused of sexually inappropriate behavior toward a senator. Scott said last Monday that it was unclear if the PSC Nominating Council would need to restart the search process or if a new appointee would be selected from other finalists proposed by the council in August. Workman, who was selected by Scott in September, would have replaced Commissioner Ronald Brise on the five-member commission effective Jan. 1.
The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) last Tuesday unanimously approved Florida Power & Light’s (FPL) request to charge customers at least $176.4 million to clean up groundwater contamination from its Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station near Homestead. The South Florida Water Management District in 2013 determined that “hypersaline water from the Turkey Point cooling-canal system had moved offsite, and FPL later entered into agreements with Miami-Dade County and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to fix the problem. Several advocacy groups and FPL customers opposed the decision, saying that FPL management knew or should have known about the contamination for years and, therefore, should not be able to recover costs due to negligence. The remediation project is expected to take 10 years and cost an estimated $176.4 million, according to FPL. Interest costs could push the total to $200 million. With Tuesday’s approval, FPL plans to recoup $82.3 million for the project next year, with that amount covering expenses from 2016, 2017 and 2018. The utility’s customers might not notice a change in monthly bills because of reductions in other environmental costs.
Tampa Electric Company (TECO) filed last Thursday at the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) seeking a $26.5 million base-rate increase to pay for solar-energy projects. The funds would pay for development of solar projects in Polk and Hillsborough counties. If approved, TECO expects the projects to begin commercial operation by September 2018. TECO received approval from the PSC in November for a base-rate freeze until 2021 but, as part of that filing, was granted the ability to recoup costs for solar expansions during the period.
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 Cammisa 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 Holly Cammisa
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