ORLANDO, Fla., Aug. 8, 2006 – The Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) will break ground Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2006 on the construction of a high-efficiency, natural gas-fired power plant in St. Lucie County, Fla., near the city of Fort Pierce.

Construction of the $257.4 million project is expected to take two years, creating up to 300 construction jobs at the peak. Treasure Coast Energy Center Unit 1 is scheduled to begin operation in 2008, at which time it will employ 16 full-time operators.

“This groundbreaking is an important milestone in FMPA’s continued efforts to provide reliable, cost-effective power to our growing member communities,” said FMPA General Manager and CEO Roger Fontes. “Today honors FMPA’s promise to modernize our generation fleet while meeting our member cities’ power needs in an efficient, economical and environmentally friendly manner.”

FMPA is a wholesale power agency owned by municipal electric utilities in Florida. Power from the plant will serve thousands of electric customers in Fort Pierce, Vero Beach, Lake Worth and Clewiston, along with the cities of Bushnell, Fort Meade, Green Cove Springs, Town of Havana, Jacksonville Beach, Key West, Kissimmee, Leesburg, Newberry, Ocala and Starke.

This high-efficiency, natural gas-fired power plant will generate 300 Megawatts, enough electricity to serve approximately 60,000 homes in Florida. The power plant, with its advanced environmental control technologies, will be one of the lowest emission plants in Florida and one of the highest efficiency plants in the state. The plant will also use recycled water from a planned Fort Pierce Utilities Authority Wastewater Reclamation Facility being constructed north of Treasure Coast Energy Center.

The 69-acre Treasure Coast Energy Center site is located in the Midway Industrial Park, southwest of Fort Pierce, along Glades Cut-Off Road. The site has also been identified for up to three similar units, which could produce an additional 900 Megawatts. Additional units would be added as power needs require and subject to issuance of required approvals.

Treasure Coast Energy Center will be wholly owned by FMPA, and it will be operated under contract by Fort Pierce Utilities Authority. FMPA selected the plant’s location because it is near several FMPA cities that are experiencing increased demand for electricity. The proposed plant location is also well-positioned to avoid congestion on the state’s high-voltage electric transmission system.

“This region of Florida is growing rapidly, and it is critical that we get additional electricity into the grid,” said Elie J. Boudreaux III, director of utilities for Fort Pierce Utilities Authority. “Since FPUA’s goal is to provide economical service to our customers, we are glad that this new plant will produce twice the amount of electricity that our older electric generating facilities do at the same cost.”

More information about Treasure Coast Energy Center is available on FMPA’s Web site at www.fmpa.com.

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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 1.9 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. Additional information is available on the Internet at www.fmpa.com.