Award recognizes excellence in safety, health and environmental performance

ORLANDO, Fla., Aug. 31, 2010 — The construction team of a natural gas-fueled power plant at the Cane Island Power Park in Osceola County, Fla., was honored today with a company-wide award for excellence in safety, health and environmental performance.

Zachry Industrial Incorporated (ZII), the construction contractor of the power plant, selected this project to receive its prestigious Heart of Zachry award. The award recognizes the project’s outstanding safety, health and environmental performance in its first 500,000 work-hours. ZII construction projects are assessed on attributes such as industrial hygiene, crane safety, construction best practices implementation, assisting other projects with best practices, field safety training and quality measurement. The Heart of Zachry award has been given to only three projects in 2010. 

The Cane Island Unit 4 construction project is a $479 million, 300-megawatt generating unit scheduled to begin commercial operation in 2011. The unit is owned by Florida Municipal Power Agency and will be operated by Kissimmee Utility Authority. When completed, the new generator will provide electricity to 14 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 and Starke.

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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 include 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.