FMPA Weekly
A weekly e-newsletter for FMPA members
July 16, 2018
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LAST WEEK
ARP Solar Participants Advisory Committee
The All-Requirements Project Solar Participants Advisory Committee held its inaugural meeting last Wednesday. The committee elected Larry Mattern from Kissimmee Utility Authority as chairman and approved using the Project Development Fund to pay for transmission studies. The committee also heard six information items: 1) committee charter, 2) renewable energy power purchase agreement milestones and decisions, 3) promotional ideas and community outreach, 4) transmission studies and funding, 5) budget and funding, and 6) meeting schedule. The full agenda package is available on the Portal. Contact: Susan Schumann
ARP Bond Refinancing
FMPA issued $57.8 million in refunding revenue bonds last Thursday for the All-Requirements Project. Net present value savings were $6.6 million, and average annual savings from 2019 to 2024 are projected to be $4.2 million. The deal was oversubscribed eight times, meaning there were more orders than bonds to sell. Proceeds of the Series 2018A bonds will refund the outstanding Series 2008A bonds. Contact: Rich Popp or Linda Howard
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THIS WEEK
FMEA Annual Conference
The Florida Municipal Electric Association (FMEA) Annual Conference is Tuesday through Thursday at The Breakers in Palm Beach. The annual FMPA Board of Directors luncheon is Thursday at noon and will feature a presentation by Bill Conrad and Jacob Williams entitled, “Everything Changes Except the Mission.” More conference information is available on FMEA’s website.
Board of Directors
FMPA’s Board of Directors meets Wednesday at The Breakers in Palm Beach at 8 a.m. The Board will elect officers for 2018-2019 and hear the following information items: 1) update on member services vision and changes, 2) member distribution reliability report, 3) update on member relations survey, and 4) update on the arbitrage request for proposal. The full agenda package is available on the Portal. Contact: Jacob Williams
Executive Committee
The ARP Executive Committee meets Wednesday at The Breakers in Palm Beach at 8:30 a.m., or immediately following the Board of Directors. The committee will elect officers for 2018-2019 and hear the following information items: 1) pricing update on the 2018A bonds, 2) update on arbitrage request for proposal, and 3) ARP load forecast. The full agenda package is available on the Portal. Contact: Jacob Williams
Board and Executive Committee Pictures
Photos of Board and Executive Committee members will be taken immediately following Wednesday’s governing board meetings in the Magnolia Room of The Breakers in Palm Beach. The pictures will be used for display in FMPA’s office and published in the annual report. Details about the pictures were sent in an email from Ryan Dumas.
Facebook Live
FMPA will live stream the presentations of Bill Conrad and Jacob Williams at the annual FMPA Board of Directors luncheon on Thursday. The broadcast will available on FMPA’s Facebook page beginning at 12:45 p.m. Contact: Mark McCain
Policy Makers Liaisons Committee
FMPA’s Policy Makers Liaisons Committee meets Thursday at 3 p.m. at The Breakers in Palm Beach. The committee will consider three action items: 1) election of committee officers, 2) approval of meeting schedule for 2018-2019, and 3) review and assessment of the committee charter. The full agenda package is available on the Portal. Contact: Mark McCain
Member City Visit
Luis Cruztravels to Key West on Thursday to meet with Keys Energy Services’ technology team to discuss IT solutions and cyber-related challenges. The meeting will focus on improving mutual assistance in the technology space.
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 15. Contact: Jim Arntz
Special Dates
Congratulations to Jason Wolfe, who celebrates five years with FMPA on Sunday, July 22.
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COMING UP
Substation Training Series
The next session of FMPA’s Substation Training series is Aug. 14-15 at Orlando Utilities Commission’s Engineering Building. The topic for this session is Substation Hazards and Controls. The 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 attendees’ utilities. The cost to register is $900 per person for the two-day session. FMPA will invoice participating utilities after the course. Registration is available on FMPA.com. Contact: Sharon Samuels
Crew Leader Roundtables
A series of semi-annual crew leader roundtables will be held in August. Regional meetings will be held in: 1) Alachua on Aug. 15, 2) Havana on Aug. 16, 3) Homestead on Aug. 21, 4) Kissimmee on Aug. 22, and 5) Bartow on Aug. 23. The roundtables are designed to provide an opportunity for foremen or crew leaders to meet with their counterparts from other member utilities within a region. Attendance is free, and lunch will be provided. Registration is available on FMPA.com. Contact: Mike McCleary
Frontline Training Course
FMPA hosts a course from the Frontline Utility Leadership series on Sept. 12-13 in Orlando. The two-day session will focus on human performance. The training is designed to develop well-qualified and highly effective utility leaders. Registration is available online. FMPA and Florida Municipal Electric Association members receive a discount by entering the code FMPA18 at checkout. Contact: Sharon Samuels
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INDUSTRY NEWS
PSC Directs New Hurricane Preparedness Actions
The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) met last Tuesday to discuss electric utility hurricane preparedness and restoration actions. The goal of the meeting was to create a plan for reducing storm outages and minimizing recovery time. Commissioners directed PSC staff to: 1) open storm hardening plan review dockets earlier than previously scheduled and begin collecting additional data from all five investor-owned utilities (IOU), 2) begin collecting data related to the targeted underground projects of Florida Power & Light and Duke Energy Florida as part of the staff’s annual distribution reliability review, 3) explore the feasibility and cost of updating the 2007 Commission directed study on the cost of undergrounding, 4) initiate a management audit to examine the procedures and processes used by IOUs to estimate and disseminate outage restoration times following a major storm, and 5) initiate a management audit to examine the procedures and processes used by IOUs to inspect and schedule maintenance on transmission structures.
PSC Approves Refund for FPL Customers from Hurricane Matthew Recovery
The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) approved a one-time refund last Tuesday for Florida Power & Light (FPL) customers due to over-recovered costs for Hurricane Matthew. The total refund is $27.7 million. Customers who use 1,000 kWh per month will receive a one-month credit of $3.18 in August.
Appeals Court Dismisses Nuclear Recovery Lawsuit
A federal appeals court agreed last week with a lower court decision to dismiss a class-action lawsuit against Florida Power & Light (FPL) and Duke Energy Florida related to nuclear plant cost recovery. The suit argued that a Florida law allowing utilities to collect funds for developing nuclear power plants before operation begins is unconstitutional. The suit sought to recover $2 billion in costs that the utilities charged customers to investigate proposed nuclear plants that were never built. FPL used a portion of the money to upgrade existing nuclear plants while pausing development of new nuclear units, and Duke shelved plans to build two reactors in Levy County.
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FMPA Weekly is published by FMPA for employees and governing boards of FMPA member utilities. Questions or comments about this newsletter may be directed to Jeff Grainger or Lisa Rienhardt 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 learn more.
Have a question, comment or story idea for the newsletter? FMPA welcomes your feedback at any time. Contact: Jeff Grainger or Lisa Rienhardt