Groundbreaking ceremony scheduled for March 27 to kick off two-year construction project
Natural gas-fueled generator to provide clean, reliable electricity to 15 Florida communities

ORLANDO, Fla., March 23, 2009 – Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) announced it will break ground this week on the addition of a natural gas-fueled power generator at the Cane Island Power Park in Osceola County, Fla.

A groundbreaking ceremony will be held March 27, 2009, at 8:30 a.m. at the plant site. Members of the press are welcome to attend.

Construction of the $479 million project is expected to take approximately two years, creating temporary construction jobs and local spending. When completed, the new generator, known as Cane Island Unit 4, will provide reliable, affordable, environmentally responsible electricity to 15 communities throughout the state, including the Central Florida communities of Kissimmee, Leesburg, Ocala and Bushnell, as well as Clewiston, Fort Meade, Fort Pierce, Green Cove Springs, Town of Havana, Jacksonville Beach, Key West, Lake Worth, Newberry, Starke and Vero Beach.

Cane Island Unit 4 will be constructed at the Cane Island Power Park, an existing 1,000-acre power generation facility in northwest Osceola County. The site is jointly owned by FMPA and Kissimmee Utility Authority (KUA). Unit 4 will be wholly owned by FMPA and operated by KUA.

The construction of Cane Island Unit 4 is expected to provide significant value to the local community. At its peak, the project is expected to create up to approximately 300 temporary construction jobs, with wages projected to total more than $42 million. Spending on construction will also benefit the local and regional economies and is projected to indirectly create additional jobs.

FMPA conducted a thorough analysis of alternatives to meet customers’ projected power needs, and Cane Island Unit 4 was determined to be the most cost-effective alternative. In fact, modernizing FMPA’s fleet of generators to increase efficiency is part of the Agency’s plans to address high energy costs. Modern, highly-efficient combined cycle generating units, like Cane Island Unit 4, can operate more efficiently than the older generation of power plants they replace. Using fuel more efficiently lowers power costs for consumers and is better for the environment.

Cane Island Unit 4, with its highly efficient design and state-of-the-art environmental controls, will be one of the cleanest plants in Florida, and the new generator is a key part of FMPA’s plan to meet Florida’s greenhouse gas reduction goals. FMPA is poised to reduce its 2017 emissions to year 2000 levels.

Throughout the construction phase, FMPA and KUA will continue to reach out to the community to share information and respond to local residents’ questions and suggestions. To learn more about the project, please visit caneisland.fmpa.com or call the project’s telephone hotline at (321) 239-1034.
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Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) is a wholesale power company owned by 30 municipal electric utilities. FMPA provides economies of scale in power generation and related services to support community-owned electric utilities. The members of FMPA serve approximately 2 million Floridians. FMPA’s members are Alachua, Bartow, Blountstown, Bushnell, Chattahoochee, Clewiston, Fort Meade, Fort Pierce, Gainesville, Green Cove Springs, Havana, Homestead, Jacksonville Beach, Key West, Kissimmee, Lake Worth, Lakeland, Leesburg, Moore Haven, Mount Dora, New Smyrna Beach, Newberry, Ocala, Orlando, Quincy, St. Cloud, Starke, Vero Beach, Wauchula and Williston. Additional information is available on the Internet at www.fmpa.com.