ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 24, 2010 – The Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) celebrates today the 32nd anniversary of the Agency’s formation.

More than three decades ago, Florida’s municipal electric utilities had a vision of working together to coordinate the wholesale electricity needs of cities in order to create economies of scale in power generation and diversify power resources. Today, 30 community-owned electric utilities have built FMPA, an organization that fulfills that vision.

“Today, we celebrate the many accomplishments of the people who created this forum to bring municipal electric utilities together,” said General Manager Nick Guarriello. “By working together, FMPA members will continue to address the Agency’s mission of providing competitively priced, reliable power and value-added services for municipal electric utilities through joint action.”

FMPA members have overcome significant challenges together throughout the organization’s history, such as wining the right to own nuclear generation, establishing the All-Requirements Project, winning fair access to statewide transmission and meeting growing power demand in an era of rising fuel prices. In each situation, FMPA members have found success by leveraging their collective knowledge, skills and talents.

“While the past year has presented challenges, we know we will overcome them like we always do,” said Guarriello. “Today’s opportunities are much like those municipals faced in 1978, when FMPA was founded. Our members and our staff will work together and utilize knowledge from previous successes to make decisions that benefit all of our communities.”

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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.