|
June 15, 2020 |
TOP NEWS
APPA National Awards and Board Appointment
Florida Public power leaders from Kissimmee Utility Authority (KUA), Keys Energy Services (KEYS) and Lakeland Electric received national awards at the American Public Power Association’s (APPA) Virtual Summit and Business Meeting last week. Kathleen Thacker, Board of Directors Chair of KUA received the Spence Vanderlinden Public Official Award for her contributions toward APPA’s goal to be effective leaders and advocates for public power. Julio Torrado, Director of Human Resources and Communications at KEYS received the Harold Kramer-John Preston Personal Service Award, which recognizes individuals for their exceptional service to APPA. Lynne Tejeda with KEYS was reappointed to a three-year term on APPA’s Board of Directors. Congratulations to all the winners for their commitment to public power and community service. Additionally, Lakeland Electric received the DEED Energy Innovator Award given to utilities that have demonstrated advances in the development or application of creative, energy-efficient techniques or technologies.
ARP Executive Committee Rate Workshop
The ARP Executive Committee held a rate workshop last Thursday to review the May All-Requirements Project loads, costs and rates. Despite cooler than normal temperatures in May and COVID-19, participant energy sales for May were only 1.5% below budget. ARP rates for May also benefitted from monthly gas costs that were 29% below budget. The May average billed demand and energy cost to participants was $70.29 per MWh, which was the lowest billed cost for the month of May since 2016 and third lowest May cost since 2005. Staff currently projects that the average all-in cost to Participants for Fiscal Year 2020 will finish between $66 and $68 per MWh. The full agenda package is available on the Portal.
Cane Island Maintenance
Unit 1 at the Cane Island Power Park came back online last Friday after a planned maintenance outage. Contact: David Schumann
Welcome, Scot
Please welcome Scot Rolfe, FMPA’s new Energy Portfolio Analyst, who joins the Agency on Monday. Scot comes to FMPA from ISO New England, where he worked as a Lead Analyst for nearly three years. Previously, Scot served as the Principal Business Analyst at San Diego Gas and Electric. Scot has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Texas A&M University and a master’s degree in business analytics from Indiana University. We are happy to have Scot as a member of FMPA’s team.
Mobile Substation Project
Carl Turner, Cairo Vanegas, and Angel Rivera-Lopez travel to Winter Park on Tuesday to assess the city’s substations for a mobile connection. This is the first assessment to be conducted of the eight cities that are interested in the Mobile Substation Project. The mobile substation will serve as a contingency plan in the event of a long-term outage on a substation transformer in the participating cities. Additional members interested in participating can contact Cairo Vanegas.
Board of Directors
FMPA’s Board of Directors meets Thursday at 9 a.m. in the Board room. The Board will consider eight action items. Social distancing guidelines will be followed, and a teleconference option is available for those who prefer to dial in. The full agenda package is available on the Portal. Contact: Jacob Williams
Executive Committee
The ARP Executive Committee meets Thursday at 9:15 a.m., or immediately following the Board. The committee will consider five action items. Social distancing guidelines will be followed, and a teleconference option is available for those who prefer to dial in. The full agenda package is available on the Portal. Contact: Jacob Williams
System Operator Training Survey
Truong Le emailed a survey last week to gauge members’ interest in a joint agreement to negotiate better pricing for System Operator Training for continuing education hours. The training is required every three years for system operators to maintain their North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Certified System Operator license. The deadline to complete the survey is Thursday. Interested members can contact Truong for a copy of the survey.
Pole Line Hardware Bid
FMPA is issuing a new pole line hardware bid. The Invitation to Bid will include FEMA-required language. Additional information will be provided soon. Interested members can contact Sharon Samuels.
SPECIAL DATES
Anniversaries
Richard Montgomery | June 18 | 13 Years
Paige Arnett | June 20 | 4 Years
COMING UP
Mitigating the COVID-19 Bad Debt Crisis
June 22 | 2 p.m. | Teleconference
Rate Design and Communicating Value
June 23 | 2 p.m. | Teleconference
TOP INDUSTRY NEWS
Florida PSC Approves TECO Storm Hardening Plans
Increased Demand Expected to Raise Florida Gas Prices
State Regulators Reject Arguments on FPL Rates
DeSantis Signs Essential State Infrastructure Bill
__________________________________________________________________
FMPA Weekly is published by FMPA’s Public Relations Department for staff and members. Questions about this newsletter may be directed to Melisa Inanc or Melanie Arsenault. Check out FMPA’s Glossary, for frequently mentioned terms.