FMPA Weekly | March 18, 2019 | Member Edition
Florida Municipal Solar Project
FMPA responded to 12 questions from companies interested in submitting a response to a request for proposals (RFP) for a solar power purchase agreement for phase two of the Florida Municipal Solar Project. Responses to the RFP are due April 5. Contact: Susan Schumann
Green Cove Springs Visit
Jacob Williams, Ken Rutter and Chris Gowder met with City Manager Steve Kennedy, Public Works Director Mike Null and Board member Bob Page to discuss Green Cove Springs' power supply needs. Discussion topics included the city's potential participation in the Florida Municipal Solar Project and how FMPA could help Green Cove Springs fulfill its load growth.
Newberry AMI Project
Staff from FMPA and Newberry met last week with representatives from Quanta Technology to discuss the city's automated metering infrastructure (AMI) project. The team completed its kickoff meetings, and Quanta now will develop a detailed technical specification as part of a request for proposals document to support Newberry's vendor procurement process. Contact: Mike McCleary
Jacob Williams and Ken Rutter visit Cane Island Power Park on Monday and Treasure Coast Energy Center on Tuesday. The purpose of the visits is for Ken to meet with plant staff and to get familiar with FMPA's power generating units.
FMPA's Board of Directors meets Thursday at 9 a.m. in the Board room. The Board will hear information items, including: 1) proposed summary of strategic priorities and revision to FMPA's vision, mission and values, 2) introduction to SERC, 3) quarterly human resources update, 4) Florida Municipal Solar Project update, 5) appointment of Finance Committee members, 6) member services for retail rate design and solar subscriptions, and 7) request for proposals for external auditors. The full agenda package is available 0n the Portal. Contact: Jacob Williams
ARP Executive Committee
The Executive Committee meets Thursday in the Board room at 9:15 a.m. or immediately following the Board of Directors meeting. The Committee will discuss: 1) approval of Florida Gas Utility directive for Main Street prepaid gas transaction, and 2) approval of proposed revision of load attraction incentive rate for metering requirements. The full agenda package is available on the Portal. Contact: Jacob Williams
The weekly update of the All-Requirements Project historical load graph has been posted on the Portal. The graph is updated through March 17. Contact: Jim Arntz
Happy anniversary to Peter Moore, who celebrates 15 years with FMPA on Friday, March 22.
Conservation and Renewable Energy Advisory Committee
The Conservation and Renewable Energy Advisory Committee will meet March 25 at 2 p.m. via conference call. Contact: Sharon Samuels
Substation Awareness Basics
FMPA will host a Substation Awareness Basics training class April 9-10 at Campbell Kelly Community Center in Quincy. This is the first time the Substation Series Training has been held in the panhandle. The two-day session will provide participants with in-depth instruction on substation-related topics and will be tailored to the specific equipment of the attendees' utilities, where possible. Contact: Sharon Samuels
FPL Proposes New Voluntary Community Solar Subscription Program
Florida Power & Light (FPL) filed a petition with the Florida Public Service Commission last Wednesday seeking approval for a new voluntary community solar program that FPL is calling SolarTogether. The program will give FPL customers the option to subscribe to new universal solar capacity built through the program. Participating customers will pay a monthly fee for the cost of their subscribed solar energy and receive a credit for a portion of the system savings produced by that solar capacity. To gauge interest in such an offering, FPL opened a pre-registration period in late-2018. More than 200 customers reserved capacity totaling approximately 1,100 MM, FPL stated in its filing, with many of these customers reserving 75% to 100% of their annual energy usage. Based on customer interest, FPL has sized the initial SolarTogether offering at 1,490 MW, equal to 20 74.5-MW solar power plants. Over the life of these solar plants, customers who do not participate in SolarTogether will not subsidize the program. If approved, the five solar plants are estimated to enter commercial operation starting in early 2020 with the last of the plants coming online by April 2020.
Fracking Bill Advances Despite Concerns
A bill that would ban an oil-drilling technique known as fracking in Florida advanced last Monday in the Florida Senate with oil-drilling protections for the Everglades but no new language sought by environmentalists. The Senate Agriculture Committee voted 3-2 to approve SB 7064, which would meet Gov. Ron DeSantis' request to ban fracking. While opposed to fracking, environmentalists opposed Chairman Ben Albritton's bill because it does not address a technique called "matrix acidizing." The acidizing technique utilizes many of the same chemicals used in hydraulic fracking, but it dissolves rocks with acid instead of fracturing them with pressurized liquid. Sen. Albritton's proposal is similar to House Bill 7029, which has started moving forward. Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, has proposed a bill (SB 314) that would ban hydraulic fracturing and matrix acidizing.
Duke Energy, FAMU to Develop Central Florida Solar Farm
Duke Energy Florida plans to build a 74.9 MW solar farm in Central Florida on a site leased from Florida A&M University (FAMU). The university's Board of Trustees approved the 25-year lease agreement at FAMU's Brooksville Agricultural and Environmental Research Station. The Rattler Solar Power Plant is part of Duke Energy's plan to build or buy 700 MW of solar capacity in the state through 2022.