FMPA Weekly
A weekly e-newsletter for FMPA members
Jan. 22, 2018
LAST WEEK
Vero Beach Member City Vote
The Lake Worth City Commission approved resolutions last Tuesday that will enable the city of Vero Beach to sell its electric utility. Thirteen out of 19 member cities have now approved the necessary consents and waivers. Contact: Jacob Williams
AURSI Overview Webinar
FMPA hosted a webinar last Tuesday on Advanced Utility Resources and Supply, Inc. (AURSI), a web-based procurement and material standards manual. The webinar provided information to members on how AURSI can accelerate the procurement process and assist in other ways. Two cities have already received onsite demonstrations, and three cities have scheduled demos in the near future. Many Florida utilities already use this system. If your utility is interested in AURSI and would like to schedule an onsite demo, contact Sharon Samuels.
AROC Appointments
Executive Committee Chairman Howard McKinnon made two appointments last Wednesday to the Audit and Risk Oversight Committee (AROC). Kevin Crawford of Kissimmee replaced Larry Matte, and Mike Poucher of Ocala fills a vacancy created by the retirement of Ocala’s David Anderson.
Audit and Risk Oversight Committee
The Audit and Risk Oversight Committee (AROC) met last Thursday and approved the Annual Audited Financial Report for fiscal 2017 and the Risk Inventory Update. 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 the Annual Audited Financial Report for fiscal 2017. The full agenda package is available on the Portal. Contact: Jacob Williams
Executive Committee
The Executive Committee met last Thursday and approved: 1) the Annual Audited Financial Report for fiscal 2017, 2) Lake Worth billing agreement, and 3) extension of Bank of America, N.A. letter of credit. The full agenda package is available on the Portal. Contact: Jacob Williams
Fort Meade Meeting
Jacob Williams, Jody Finklea and Chris Gowder met last Friday with Fort Meade City Manager Fred Hilliard and the city’s attoey. They discussed Fort Meade’s Contract Rate of Delivery and options for becoming a fully participating member of the All-Requirements Project. The issue was also discussed at last Thursday’s Executive Committee meeting.
Salary Survey
Members are encouraged to respond to FMPA’s inaugural utility salary survey that was issued last week. The survey was developed in response to an FMPA roundtable about challenges members face with distribution services and lineworker retention. The participants identified the need for Florida-specific salary and benefit information to help analyze retention issues. The survey was developed by a group of Human Resources professionals from FMPA member utilities and was sent last week in an email from Sharon Smeenk. When the results are available, they will be summarized with anonymity and posted to the Portal for reference throughout the year. The survey is expected to be an annual process.
3 Phase Times
FMPA’s Power Resources Division published the December 2017 edition of 3 Phase Times last week. 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 78% of ARP’s total energy sources in December. ARP sold 18% of its generation to the Florida Municipal Power Pool (FMPP). Pool sales helped offset ARP costs by 54 cents per MWh. The FMPP Average Monthly Gas Dispatch Price in December was $2.77 per MMBtu, which was 57 cents below budget. The equivalent availability factor of FMPA’s base-load units in December was 83%, which met the monthly projection. For more information, download 3 Phase Times from the Portal. Contact: Frank Gaffney
THIS WEEK
Member City Visit
Mike McCleary and Sharon Smeenk travel to Bartow on Monday for a member city visit.
Substation Training Series
Session two of FMPA’s Substation Training series will be held Tuesday and Wednesday at Orlando Utilities Commission’s Engineering Building. The topics for this session are: 1) reading and evaluating when and how to use substation prints effectively, 2) interpreting prints using print symbols, and 3) using prints during electrical troubleshooting work tasks. This hands-on course is designed to provide participants with in-depth instruction on substation-related topics and is tailored to the specific equipment of the attendee’s utilities. Lunch will be provided. Contact: Sharon Smeenk
Vero Beach Member City Vote
The Utility Board of the City of Key West is scheduled to hold a vote Wednesday on a resolution that would enable the city of Vero Beach to sell its electric utility. Contact: Jacob Williams
AMI Meeting
Mike McCleary, Navid Nowakhtar and Cairo Vanegas travel to Newberry on Thursday to assist the city in developing a request for proposal for Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). They also will discuss other initial steps for investigating AMI.
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 Jan. 21. Contact: Jim Atz
Special Dates
Congratulations to Jeff Grainger, who celebrates two years with FMPA on Thursday, Jan. 25.
Congratulations to Susan Schumann, who celebrates 20 years with FMPA on Friday, Jan. 26.
Congratulations to Frank Gaffney, who celebrates nine years with FMPA on Sunday, Jan. 28.
COMING UP
FEMA Procurement Workshop
FMPA will host a free workshop to discuss compliance with procurement standards of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The workshop will be held Feb. 14 beginning at 10 a.m. in FMPA’s Orlando office. A webcast will be provided for those unable to attend in person. The workshop will cover: 1) a review of FEMA procurement requirements, 2) a discussion of FMPA’s procurement process, 3) FEMA Procurement Toolkit, 4) how to customize and implement the Toolkit, and 5) FEMA requirements, paperwork and submittals. Lunch will be provided. There is no cost to attend, but https://fmpa.com/event/fmpa-fema-procurement-workshop-february-14-2018/>
AMI Workshop
FMPA will hold an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) workshop on March 6 at FMPA’s Orlando office. A meeting notice will be sent soon. Members who have implemented AMI, are currently implementing AMI or considering AMI are encouraged to attend. The purpose of the meeting is to share information and consider opportunities for working together to assist with AMI implementation. Contact: Mike McCleary
NIMS Training
FMPA hosts a free training class for the National Incident Management System (NIMS) on March 27-29 at FMPA’s Orlando office. NIMS is a comprehensive, nationwide-standard approach to incident management and provides a framework that helps govements, the private sector and nongovemental organizations to work more effectively in emergency situations. There are several prerequisites that must be completed prior to attending. For information on the prerequisites and registering contact Mike McCleary.
INDUSTRY NEWS
Kissimmee Mayor Jose Alvarez was appointed to a one-year term on the American Public Power Association’s Policy Makers Council (PMC) effective Jan. 1. The PMC meets twice a year in Washington, D.C., and visits with elected representatives and congressional staff on issues critical to public power. Other representatives on the PMC from Florida include Peter Batty from Key West and Mike Perri from Fort Pierce.
Florida Power & Light (FPL) announced last Tuesday that it will not seek to raise electric rates in order to recover recent hurricane-related expenses. FPL decided not to pursue the filing it made at the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) last October seeking permission to collect $1.3 billion in storm costs. Instead, FPL plans to use federal tax savings under the new tax law to offset the costs. Duke Energy Florida and Tampa Electric Company have requests pending before the PSC to recover storm-related costs.
The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) Nominating Council will meet this Thursday to interview the 18 “most qualified applicants for a vacancy on the PSC. Among them is Bill Conrad, chairman of FMPA and former mayor of Newberry. A seat on the commission is vacant following Ritch Workman’s resignation after a sexual misconduct allegation. The Council will nominate no fewer than three people, which will be forwarded to Gov. Rick Scott to make an appointment.
The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) heard conflicting testimony last Wednesday on Florida Power and Light’s (FPL) need for a 1,163 MW combined cycle power plant in Broward County. The PSC is expected to rule March 1 on a Determination of Need for the Dania Beach power plant. The state Office of Public Counsel, which represents consumers in utility cases, and the Sierra Club objected to granting the need determination. The $888 million project would replace two old generating units at the Dania Beach site. FPL contends the new plant, which could begin operating in 2022, would increase reliability and ultimately save $337 million for customers when compared to continuing to operate the older units. But the Office of Public Counsel and the Sierra Club argue FPL has not shown that the new plant is needed to meet customers’ projected energy usage in 2022.
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 Mason Troche 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 Mason Trouche
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Tel 407 355-7767
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