Fourteen cities in Florida celebrate 25 years of power supply independence

ORLANDO, Fla., April 29, 2011 – Municipal electric utilities in Florida took control of their wholesale power supply 25 years ago when Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) began supplying wholesale power to several Florida cities through the creation of the All-Requirements Project (ARP).

Since beginning operation on May 1, 1986, the Project has enabled municipal electric utilities of all sizes to become owners—not just customers—of a diverse, statewide power system.

All-Requirements was originally founded to serve five cities with a peak demand of 325 Megawatts, but the project’s success attracted more members. Today, it is a 1,400 Megawatt system serving 14 cities throughout Florida from the panhandle to Key West. The Project is one of the largest municipal electric systems in Florida and in the United States.

“FMPA’s All-Requirements Project has played an active role in helping Florida cities gain control of their power supply, while protecting the interests of their customers and community,” said FMPA General Manager and CEO Nicholas P. Guarriello. “Municipal utilities are able to provide their communities with reliable power in an efficient manner because of the accomplishments of the cities working together.”

During the past 25 years, All-Requirements’ major benefits include: 

• Expanded Wholesale Competition and Lowered Costs: As an all-requirements  supplier, FMPA created competition in Florida’s wholesale power market, which was previously dominated by investor-owned utilities. This in turn helped lower costs and provided significant savings shared by all Florida customers. Over the years, the savings have totaled hundreds of millions of dollars.

• Achievement of Equal-Access Transmission Service: On behalf of the All-Requirements Project, FMPA has been active in federal regulatory forums as a champion for new rules requiring utilities to provide open and fair access to the nation’s interstate transmission network. FMPA filed and won a precedent-setting case at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) seeking a type of transmission service that transmission owners used themselves, but refused to offer to others. The ruling in FMPA’s case ensured that wholesale buyers and sellers can reach each other without suffering the anti-competitive and discriminatory practices once imposed by transmission owners.

• Creation of Economies of Scale for Utilities of All Sizes: The most significant benefit of the All-Requirements Project is its ability to give municipal utilities of all sizes control over their power supply needs. All-Requirements members are not wholesale power customers; they are owners of a large, diverse municipal electric system. This blending of community power and statewide strength enables municipal electric utilities to provide the personal service of a local utility backed with the resources of a statewide organization.

Today, as much as ever, the benefits of the All-Requirements Project are important. For 25 years, participants have worked together to provide reliable, low-cost wholesale power and related services for the benefit of their communities. Ultimately, this combination serves the highest goal of making the communities better places to live and work.
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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 two million Floridians.