FMPA Weekly
A weekly e-newsletter for FMPA members
Oct. 22, 2012
LAST WEEK
Cane Island Power Park
Cane Island Unit 2 came back online last Monday after a routine outage for painting and maintenance. Unit 1 was briefly taken offline last Wednesday to perform a borescope inspection of the combustion turbine. Unit 3 was taken offline Saturday for a scheduled outage to: 1) perform a hot gas path inspection of the gas turbine, 2) inspect the steam turbine and generator, and 3) upgrade the turbine control system. Unit 3 is scheduled to come back online Dec. 3. Contact: David Schumann
THIS WEEK
APPA Customer Connections Conference
Mark McCain is attending the American Public Power Association’s (APPA) Customer Connections Conference on Monday through Wednesday in Indianapolis, Ind. Public power utility personnel working in customer service, economic development, energy services, key accounts and public communications will attend breakout sessions and discuss the latest industry activities and trends. Mark will present a breakout session Monday afteoon titled, “Anatomy of a Crisis Communication Plan. Topics include: 1) making the case for crisis communication planning, 2) elements of a crisis communication plan, 3) scenario and message planning, and 4) practicing the plan. Florida’s public power community is well-represented at the conference, as Florida Municipal Electric Association’s Cheryl Anderson, Fort Pierce Utilities Authority’s Bill Abramowicz, Gainesville Regional Utilities’ Dan Clark and Kathy Viehe, and JEA’s Ted Austin are scheduled to present sessions at the conference.
FCG Annual Meetings
Amy Deese, Michelle Robinson-Austin and Susan Schumann are attending the Florida Electric Power Coordinating Group (FCG) Annual Conference on Monday in Clearwater Beach. FCG represents investor-owned electric utilities, rural electric cooperatives and municipal electric utilities on environmental issues affecting the electric utility industry. Discussion topics include: 1) Department of Environmental Protection priorities, 2) Clean Air permits and compliance, 3) coal combustion products and EPA, and more. On Tuesday, Amy, Michelle and Susan attend FCG Environmental Committee and Subcommittee meetings to discuss water, air and solid waste issues.
Member City Visits
Fred Bryant, Bud Boudreaux and Electric Cities of Georgia’s Director of Engineering Ellen Richardson travel to Havana on Monday to meet with Town Manager Howard McKinnon. On Tuesday, they travel to Blountstown to meet with City Manager Emory Pierce. On Wednesday they travel to Quincy to meet with Director of Utilities Mike Wade.
FMPP Executive Committee
The Florida Municipal Power Pool (FMPP) Executive Committee meets Wednesday at 11 a.m. in the Board room.
All-Requirements Project Weekly Load Statistics
The weekly update of the All-Requirements Project historical load graph has been posted on the Member Portal. The graph is updated through Oct. 21. Contact: Jim Atz
COMING UP
Policy Makers Liaisons Committee
FMPA’s Policy Makers Liaisons Committee meets Nov. 14 in the Board room at 1 p.m. Lunch will be provided at noon. Contact: Mark McCain
ARP Executive Committee
The ARP Executive Committee meets Nov. 15 in the Board room at 9 a.m. Contact: Nick Guarriello
APPA Winter Education Institute
FMPA is co-hosting the American Public Power Association’s APPA’s” rel=”nofollow”>http://www.publicpower.org/WinterInstitute/index.cfm?ItemNumber=32858>APPA’s website for registration and additional program information.
INDUSTRY NEWS
Reid Plans to Revive Cyber Security Bill When Congress Retus
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Oct. 13 he will bring cyber security legislation back to the Senate floor when Congress retus in November. The Senator’s statement follows Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s waing that the U.S. is at risk of a devastating cyber-attack. In an Oct. 11 http://www.defense.gov/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=5136″ target=_blank>speech to the Business Executives for National Security, Panetta said the country could face a cyber Pearl Harbor, with attacks targeting the power grid, trains carrying chemicals, water plants and other critical systems. The Senate in August failed to pass the Cybersecurity Act, introduced by Senators Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) and supported by Reid. The bill would provide incentives for voluntary compliance with cyber security practices for critical infrastructure. However, the bill calls for the federal govement to develop standards if the private sector doesn’t and would allow federal agencies to adopt voluntary standards as mandatory requirements. The House in April passed a cyber security bill that would give the federal govement new authority to share classified cyber threat information with approved American companies. The White House has drafted an executive order aimed at protecting critical infrastructure systems from cyber-attacks amid congressional gridlock on cyber security legislation. The draft order would establish a voluntary program in which companies that operate critical infrastructure would take steps to better secure their computer systems and meet a set of security standards crafted, in part, by the Department of Homeland Security.
Lakeland Electric Brings New Solar Farm Online
Lakeland Electric and solar partner SunEdison will bring online Monday the second phase of a solar photovoltaic (PV) system at the Lakeland Linder Regional Airport. Phase II generates 3 MW through 12,528 solar panels and is expected to produce 5.32 million kWh in the first year of operation and more than 121 kWh over 25 years. Phase I and Phase II contain more than 22,000 solar panels across more than 40 acres of land. The solar farm generates enough renewable energy to power 2,000 homes. Lakeland Electric will purchase the power produced at the solar farm at long-term fixed rates for 25 years, the utility said.
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 Ryan Dumas or Jane Stewart This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it 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. (Click here for the Staff Directory.)
Have a question, comment or story idea for the newsletter? FMPA welcomes your feedback at any time. Contact: Ryan Dumas or Jane Stewart
Florida Municipal Power Agency
8553 Commodity Circle
Orlando, FL 32819-9002
Tel 407 355-7767
Fax 407 355-5794
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